Hibiscus Rum Punch

Winter does not have to mean boring in the cocktail department. Nor must it mean bourbon or brandy. Modern cocktails have evolved away from the more traditional brown spirit drinks paving the way for lots of other wonderful options. Meet my hibiscus rum punch; sultry, sexy, and loaded with fruity flavor.

My rum hibiscus punch is inspired by a place I am incredibly fond of, the Caribbean. If you’ve never been, add it to your bucket list, just don’t go there in the summer. The Caribbean is a special place to me. I celebrated my mom’s 70th birthday there and island-hopped with my husband during our honeymoon. We returned over the years favoring the low-key island of Anguilla above all others. Most Caribbean islands consist of beautiful white sand beaches, warm, calm, crystal clear water, beach shakes, freshly grilled fish sandwiches, and rum punch.

Any punch, of any flavor, was never really my thing before visiting the Caribbean. Punch represented an overly sweet, fruity mixture of cheap good alcohol guaranteed to leave me with a migraine mid-drink. But I learned quickly, that punch was not the same in the Caribbean. On the islands, rum punch was the go-to drink you drank alongside your Mahi Mahi sandwich. Punch, like beer in Eastern Europe, was simply customary and I adapted quickly.

To clarify, I still won’t order a punch at a neighborhood bar, so instead, I came up with a recipe that mimicked what I loved most about Caribbean punch.  In this punch recipe, I use Greenbar Distillery’s Hibiscus fruitlab liqueur which adds beautiful bold hibiscus, rose, and blackberry aromas with lovely sweet-tart flavors and a rich luscious finish to punch up this fun cocktail in just the right way. And so this winter, if you can’t escape to the remote sunny beaches of the Caribbean, go ahead, and indulge yourself anyway with this flavorful island favorite, because it’s the next best thing.