West Indian Rum Punch
Joan Prentice
The staple drink at parties in Jamaica.
- 1 sour
- 2 sweet
- 3 strong
- 4 weak
The sour will usually be lime juice.
Sweet is sugar syrup. You can buy this by the bottle in the West Indies. I haven’t seen it anywhere else, but you can get the same result by heating 1 cup of white sugar in a pint of water and dissolve it while stirring. Let it cool and then you can use it.
The strong is usually rum. I also use Coco Ribe because the coconut flavour adds a nice touch.
The weak is a combination of fruit juices (as in the Montego Surprise). We also use coconut water, ginger ale, lemonade, soursop juice (divine!), or cold tea. Usually what is in the cupboard at the time.
Bruised mint leaves, frozen into ice cubes is a nice touch to float in the punch bowl.