Púkel Punch, a Tolkien themed Cocktail Kenning by Craig 'Colonel Tiki' Hermann, 2019

\"Púkel Punch,\" a Tolkien Cocktail Kenning created by Craig 'Colonel Tiki' Hermann, 2019.

As today, March 25th, is the day in Tolkien's Middle Earth that the One Ring was destroyed, I celebrate with my own Tolkien Cocktail Kenning, Púkel Punch.

Púkel Punch
½ oz Zwack or other herbal/kräuter liqueur
½ oz lime juice
½ oz passion fruit syrup
½ oz aged Jamaica rum (Appleton Extra)
1½ oz aged Virgin Islands rum (Cruzan)
dash bitters / 8 drops herbsaint

Flash blend with 6oz crushed ice and garnish with lime twist. 

The Púkel-Men or watchstones appear in The Return of the King and were made by the Drúedain people, who also appear in The Silmarillion and are featured in the short story "The Faithful Stone" where a created likeness of a watchstone gains life and also is tied to the maker/carver. Tiki-like visages already present in Tolkien's Legendarium!

“At each turn of the road there were great standing stones that had been carved in the likeness of men, huge and clumsy-limbed, squatting cross-legged with their stumpy arms folded on fat bellies. Some in the wearing of the years had lost all features save the dark holes of their eyes that still stared sadly at the passers-by. The Riders hardly glanced at them. The Púkel-men they called them…”

Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien

“…they were stumpy (some four foot high) but very broad, with heavy buttocks and short thick legs; their wide faces had deep-set eyes with heavy brows, and flat noses, and grew no hair below their eyebrows, except in a few men (who were proud of the distinction) a small tail of black hair in the midst of the chin. Their features were usually impassive, the most mobile being their wide mouths; and the movement of their wary eyes could not be observed save from close at hand for they were so black that the pupils could not be distinguished, but in anger they glowed red.”

Unfinished Tales, J.R.R. Tolkien