Citrusy Rum Punch

Happy Friday! If you are looking for a refreshing drink to serve tonight or at your weekend BBQ, give this citrusy rum punch a try. Years ago, I bought myself an electric citrus juicer and every once in a while it comes in very handy … say, for making rum punch on a Friday afternoon.

I never met a rum drink I didn’t like … I think I may have mentioned that on here before. I am afraid to see if this is my second rum drink posting for the month of May. Don’t tell me. In Charlotte, May feels like summer to me. I am ready for the kids to be done with school, I have packed enough lunches for the year, accumulated enough tardy slips for my older daughter, skipped enough preschool classes… let’s just call it a school year, people, and get on to the fun.

As a college instructor, my spring semester is long gone and my summer semester is underway so that makes it doubly hard to help my little people stay focused for these last few weeks. I will not be getting any mom of the year awards this month … “Are you sure that you still have homework? Let’s make ice cream instead … ” Hence, the Friday afternoon rum drinks. This recipe is not meant to be a quick after-work treat for yourself. This is meant to feed a small crowd and is easily doubled to quench the thirst of even more folks if you so desire. Possibly other moms who share your end of the school year sentiments … ladies, I’m talking to you. Drinks at my house.

Limes and My Citrus Juicer

The key to this Citrusy Rum Punch is the fresh citrus. I used fresh oranges and limes. My son’s friend volunteered to do the not-so-hard work of extracting our juice with our juicer so I put him to work with a small pile of limes and a few big oranges. 

Juicer details … I bought a simple Krups Citrus Juicer when I was living in Ohio and suffering from 6 to 9 months of gray skies. Freshly squeezed juice seemed to brighten my days just a little bit. I definitely paid less than $50 for it – probably closer to $30. It’s not fancy, it is safe for little kids to operate and it is easily washed clean when you are done. It is basically a plain version of this one from Crate and Barrel. You can get more juice out of your citrus if they are at room temperature – some people say to warm them up a little bit. I don’t do that but I do roll the oranges and limes around under the palm of my hand for a little bit to get the juices flowing, so to speak. It seems to work. After you prep your citrus, all you need is a little bit of alcohol, some pineapple juice, and some fizz! Cheers!

Citrusy Rum Punch

Ingredients: 

1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 or 3 small limes)
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (6 to 8 large oranges)
1 cup dark rum (8 oz.)
1/4 cup Triple Sec (2 oz.) (or another orange-flavored liqueur)
3/4 cup pineapple juice (I used one small 6 oz. can)
3 cups ginger ale (2 12 oz. soda cans)

Directions: 

Combine ingredients in a large pitcher. Stir. You can let the punch sit in the fridge to meld the flavors until you are ready to serve it. If I am going to let the punch sit for a bit, I wait to add the ginger ale until the very end. When you are ready … Add ice to fill the pitcher and serve!