Clarence’s Flaming Rum Punch
During the part of It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) when George Bailey is seeing what the world would be like if he’d never been born. They’re in the town’s bar, which, without George, has turned into a rough and depressing rather than convivial spot. Clarence tries to order a flaming rum punch, then asks instead for “mulled wine, heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves.” I decided to combine the two and made sure to use ingredients popular during Clarence’s day, including a mulled wine recipe from Jerry Thomas’s 1862 book.
INGREDIENTS
1½ oz. aged Jamaican rum
2 oz. mulled wine
¾ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. Curaçao
½ oz. pineapple syrup
4 oz. hot water
¼ - ½ oz. aged 151, for flaming float
Garnish: nutmeg
ABV LEVEL
Heat a heatproof 10-ounce mug (preferably tempered glass) with hot water. Prepare a bain-marie with a shaker tin set in it.
In tin, combine rum, mulled wine, lemon juice, Curaçao, and pineapple syrup; stir briefly and let it warm. In a separate mini bain-marie, heat the 151.
Dump out the warming water from your mug. Pour the warmed mixture into heated mug, top with hot water, and stir.
Carefully float the warmed 151 on top and light with a match. Grate fresh nutmeg over flame (again, carefully!).
Blow out flame, stir, and enjoy (making sure the rim of the mug has cooled enough!).