Give the kids some chocolate milk and let’s proceed to make a drink for the grown ups! Our family home like so many in the Caribbean was surrounded by citrus trees… oranges, grapefruit, shaddock, limes and lemons. Basically we were never out of freshly made juice with our meals and on those scorching, hot days when an ice-cold glass of juice would hit the spot. Though I don’t have access to the variety of citrus fruits these days, here’s a concoction I made up in true island style.

Granted as a young fella there wouldn’t be any rum in our ‘lemonade’, but I thought I’d add some.

You’ll Need…

3 lemons
3 limes
4 juice oranges *
5 cups water
3 drops Angostura bitters
1 teaspoon mixed  essence
1 cup sugar (adjust accordingly)
3/4 cup white rum

* 3 lemon and 3 orange slices for adding some brightness to the jug.

Note: Juice oranges are a bit smaller than the everyday oranges, have seeds and it’s juice is well balanced between sweet and tart. Mixed essence can be found at most Caribbean specialty grocery stores. BTW if you want to make this like the spike drinks you get at the liquor stores, you can replace the rum with vodka.

Click here for full instructions to make this recipe.