Hot Rum Punch
- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus at least 3 hours’ infusing
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:12 to 16 servings
- 4 to 5lemons
- 1tangerine, tangelo or other thick-skinned, small citrus fruit
- ¾cup Demerara sugar
- 1¼cups amber or aged rum
- 1¼cups Jamaican rum (preferably 100-proof)
- 1cup cognac
- Freshly grated nutmeg, as needed
Preparation
- Step 1
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 2 lemons and the tangerine in strips. Drop into a large heatproof bowl (or use a fireproof bowl if you plan to set the punch on fire) and combine with sugar. Muddle together with a muddler, pestle or the back of a wooden spoon. Let mixture sit for at least 3 hours to infuse (or infuse overnight).
- Step 2
Halve the tangerine and squeeze juice into a measuring cup. Halve lemons and squeeze lemon juice into the measuring cup to make ¾ cup juice in total. (Save any unsqueezed lemon halves for another purpose.)
- Step 3
When ready to serve, bring 1 quart water to a boil. Pour rum and cognac into the bowl with the sugar and peels. If you want to flame the punch, do so now; see note below.
- Step 4
Add reserved citrus juice and boiling water and stir well. Grate nutmeg over top of punch and ladle into glasses.
Tip
- If you want to set the punch on fire, first make sure your bowl is fireproof. Silver or another metal is ideal; wood or tempered glass is not. Just after Step 3, use a fireproof long-handled bar spoon or ladle to remove a spoonful of the alcohol mixture, then light it on fire. Return spoon to bowl to ignite remaining punch. Stir flaming punch to help dissolve sugar; let it burn for a minute or two. To extinguish fire, place a metal tray over bowl. Proceed with recipe.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
JG
I absolutely love this punch. It's a go-to for us in winter. Made it several times last winter, served to multiple guests. Even made a batch and kept it in the fridge to heat up a few ounces per person after dinner for a few different gatherings. Delish!
Kristen Scott
I thought this would be a good drink for the holidays, or cold nights, but it tastes like hot spiked koolaide to me. : ( A far better use of this much alcohol would be to make mulled cider or mulled wine with citrus, and add the cognac and rum as desired. This punch needs more happening, such as added cinnamon, cardamom, or even allspice. The nutmeg on the top is an afterthought that doesn't go with the other fruit flavors - nutmeg goes much better with milk based punches such as eggnog.
Raven
Our guests enjoyed the fireworks, but were a little hesitant to imbibe. I think most people instinctively inhale when the sip a new drink, but while the drink was still hot the alcohol fumes overwhelmed and everyone backed off their first sip. Once it cooled to about 150 we made quick work of it. Fresh nutmeg and a dash or two of Peychauds was key. Half-and-half with champagne was popular. Paired great with Ms. Clark's Baba au Rhum (which we also set on fire). Our new pyro NYE Tradition.
Kristen Scott
I thought this would be a good drink for the holidays, or cold nights, but it tastes like hot spiked koolaide to me. : ( A far better use of this much alcohol would be to make mulled cider or mulled wine with citrus, and add the cognac and rum as desired. This punch needs more happening, such as added cinnamon, cardamom, or even allspice. The nutmeg on the top is an afterthought that doesn't go with the other fruit flavors - nutmeg goes much better with milk based punches such as eggnog.
Anthony
This very strong and very tasty ode to Charles Dickens (the recipe comes from one of his novels) is everything it's cracked up to be. Nothing quite says hot toddy like this in our house since we discovered it and no, we've never set it on fire
David
This punch has become a Christmas eve tradition. It so good, and packs a "punch."
JG
I absolutely love this punch. It's a go-to for us in winter. Made it several times last winter, served to multiple guests. Even made a batch and kept it in the fridge to heat up a few ounces per person after dinner for a few different gatherings. Delish!
JG
Added note - when we keep some of a batch in the fridge, we do strain out the citrus zests first and put it in a weck glass pitcher with lid for storage. Putting together this season's first batch tonight :)
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