Add an extra dose of love to this classic Caribbean cocktail by making your own spiced rum and mixing that with freshly squeezed orange and lime juice. The fun ice-and-fruit float will keep your punch cool while you drink up with friends and family.
ingredients
Spiced Rum
Punch Base & Serving
directions
Special equipment: a 8-inch cake pan
Remove the cap from the rum bottle and drop the allspice, cloves, star anise, orange zest, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick into the bottle. Reseal and let sit at room temperature for 2 days to up to a week, shaking it once a day.
Put 2 cups of ice cubes in an 8-inch square cake pan and layer in half of the fruit. Top with another 2 cups of ice and then the remaining fruit (the ice cubes keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom). Fill with water and freeze until solid, about 6 hours.
When ready to serve, combine the sugar with 1 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir together the sugar syrup, orange juice, lime juice and bitters in a large punch bowl. Pour the rum into the punch bowl, through a fine mesh sieve, and discard the spices. Let the ice island sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, unmold and float in the punch.
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes pour in 1 cup of punch. Top with about 2 ounces of seltzer and the garnish of your choice.