La Rhumerie had other drinks, all with that potent raw alcohol bite, and kept tabs on the patrons by serving each on a plastic coaster, color-coded for price, so when it came time to pay, they just tallied up your coasters. Vince and I could while away the time with rum punches and take the Metro or a cab home in the wee hours. After I left the Trib and was working for Institutional Investor, I brought a visiting editor from the magazine to La Rhumerie one night after dinner and he was amazed that the street was still so lively at 11 at night, a time, he said, when New York would be tapering off for the evening.
Sadly, on my last trip back to Paris, a visit to La Rhumerie found it horridly made over. Gone was the funkiness, the plastic coasters. The rum punch was still there but buried in a menu with many fancier drinks.
What brought all this to mind was a tasting this week at Paul's of the Rhum Agricole from Clement in Martinique. When I described the rum punch to the vendor, he said that was a 'Ti Punch, the national drink of Martinique, and proceeded to mix me a small sample with the white rhum and the sugar syrup made by Clement as well. He muddled a piece of lime peel, swizzled the rhum and syrup together, and added ice. Le voila, my rum punch was recreated!
Needless to say, I brought home a bottle of the Premiere Canne, as the white rhum is called, and sugar syrup to make myself a rum punch at home. The Trib and La Rhumerie may just be happy memories, but their spirit lives on.
