Patio Punch for Island Time (wherever that may be)

  


This week we were supposed to be on an island. A sunny Caribbean island with snorkeling and iguanas and rum drinks and bright early morning sun and arghghghg fffft F*CK. Alas, we are not. We are on our own little patio island of solitude. 

While we may not have snorkeling in clear blue water, we do have some early morning sun, a cat who can sub in for exotic wildlife, and a big ol’ bucket of rum punch to nurse the entire day. The wonderful thing about island-time punch is that it is not measured in ounces, milliliters or even free-pour counts; it is measured in glugs. 

Island time punch can be assembled in two different ways, which I’ve categorized into Beach Punch and Boat Punch. Either way, the idea is that this is a pantry punch, where you will (hopefully) have all your items on hand or be able to source them from your local corner store. 

You will need:

-Rum, preferably aged but whatever ya got is fine (roughly ⅓ of your mixture)
-Assorted Fruit juices (from concentrate is totally fine), such as pineapple (very forgiving and can hide your mistakes), mango, passionfruit, orange, etc (roughly ⅔ of your mixture) 
-Citrus -- lime is best, but lemon is okay too 
-Ice

fresh pitcher of punch ready to to!

Beach Punch

In a (roughly) liter sized pitcher, juice about 2-3 limes depending on size. If you want, drop the spent limes in there for more limey umph. (Remember to wash them first.) Add a fruit juice or two, just shy of half the pitcher. Orange and pineapple work great, but so do those Goya fruit nectar cans. Add a few guh-glugs of rum; feel free to use a couple of different rums if you have them and are feeling frisky. Taste and adjust as needed. Refrigerate for later, or if ready to serve, top up with ice or a few big ice chunks and stir. 

Boat Punch

Follow all the same steps except cut back slightly on one of your fruit juices and add a fruit punch or fruit cocktail like Tropicana. You know, the bright red stuff.  I can tell you from experience that using Tahitian Treat soda also works like a charm. Don’t forget there will be a bit of added sugar in your diet, but it's Island Time, so who cares??  Boat punch can be simple because of the citric acid in most of the fruit punch style juices. Rum, orange, fruit cocktail, ice. Taste and adjust as needed. Refrigerate for later, or if ready to serve, top up with ice or a few big ice chunks and stir. 

Make it Sparkle?

Add a few glugs of dry, inexpensive sparkling wine and give it a gentle stir right before serving. Or add a can of La Croix and boom. Sparkling punch. 


Extra credit for fun glasses and/or paper unbrellas.

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