It’s getting cold outside, fast. Which means it’s time to talk about hot drinks. We’ve featured some great cold punches before, but I don’t think we’ve ever featured a hot punch, and that seems like a big oversight. Many of the best classic punches are piping hot – mixed with boiling water, or sometimes even tea. Sounds pretty good right now. So we’ll sign off for the week with a hot rum punch that should keep the cold at bay. Unless you’re in Buffalo. It’s too late for you. – Andrew

Illustration by Shauna Lynn for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Hot Rum Punch

1 oz Aged Rum
1 oz Cachaça or Unaged Rhum Agricole
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 1/2 tbsp Raw or Demerara Sugar

Combine your ingredients in a heat-proof mug and top with 6 oz of boiling water. Give the drink a stir to dissolve the sugar. Garnish with some freshly grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick or some whole allspice. Enjoy!

Smooth, rich aged rum and funky, tangy cachaça match to give this drink a complex flavor. Citrusy sweet, it will warm your bones. Consider replacing that hot water with some herbal or black tea for an even more complex punch, but just remember that tea is astringent, so increase your sugar accordingly. Oh, and that black tea has caffeine. Adding black tea basically turns this into a hot, old-fashioned energy drink.

Ok, so this is something of a cheat: punch is supposed to made in big batches, be served in a big bowl, and all that jazz. There’s no oleo sacrum here, either. But it’s really good. So let’s just pretend it’s a single-serve punch for now and we’ll come back to a recipe for a true hot rum punch later.

PS – Don’t forget to look for more recipes, techniques, and vintage glassware finds on my Instagram account, @liquorary. This week, we’ve been playing around with rinses.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper