St Vincent Rum Punch

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup lime juice
• 3 cups rum (Mount Gay if possible)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• nutmeg
• ice

Directions

1. 1

   Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool. This should give you 2 cups of sugar syrup.

2. 2

   Juice enough limes to yield 1 cup of juice. Add to the sugar syrup. That is the 1 of sour and 2 of sweet. Our family called this mixture "gunge" because the raw sugar in St Vincent made a cloudy mixture that, when mixed with the lime juice, looks a bit unpleasant and gungy - tastes great though! The sugar in New Zealand gives a clearer syrup. Pour the gunge into a bottle if you are not following the punch bowl recipe.

3. 3

   If you are serving this in a punch bowl, pour the gunge and rum into a bowl. Add 3 cups of water and lots of ice (some ice will melt to make 4 cups). Add a few splashes of Angostura bitters on the top and grate some fresh nutmeg on top. That's a bit boring so - here's a better recipe.

4. 4

   Fill a glass with crushed ice so that it is packed right to the top of the glass.

5. 5

   Pour in one measure of gunge and one measure of rum. A "measure" is anything you like. This is still going to be a 1-2-3-4 recipe.

6. 6

   Mix with a straw.

7. 7

   Add a few drops of Angostura bitters so that it floats on the top and grate some fresh nutmeg on top. I have a special mini-grater just for nutmeg.

8. 8

   You will notice there is no "4 of weak" in this recipe. The ice is the "weak", some of which will melt immediately. The idea is that you sip this slowly and when the member of the opposite sex that you are talking to starts to look incredibly attractive, it's time to put your drink down and go on the dancefloor. When you come back, more ice will have melted and you'll appreciate the longer drink!

9. 9

   I have worked out the number of servings based on 2 fluid oz of rum or 4 drinks per cup of rum, which is quite a large drink. The size of the drink is up to you. The proportions will still be the same.