Summertime, Summertime, Summertime. When Fruits are Cheap and we all spend more time outdoors just enjoying the wonderful weather..
And, a time of the year when we tend to take advantage of those cheap Fruits and vegetables that are so abundant at that time of year, in our daily meals and beverages.
I love to utilize what is available at fruit and produce stands as well as local supermarkets and make the occasional Fruit based drink, and add a little alcohol, at times.
This is one that I like to call my “Fruits of the Day” drink.
Often, I will just drop by the supermarket and check on what fruits are on sale, and then shop for whatever has the lowest price and the freshest feel and look.
Then, I will take my selections home and concoct a drink similar to this one, with the basic variations being which fruits were the best deal at the store.
So, the drink that I end up with is rarely exactly the same, but surprisingly, they are all very tasty and I never have any left over when friends leave.
After I make my pass through the fruit section, here is what I usually will have picked up.
One Navel Orange- I usually buy this variety of Orange because the Navel Orange has no seeds to deal with and it is a popular, large and sweet Orange that is generally available, and often on sale.
One Lime- A thinly sliced Lime is a good color accent in a Summer drink as well as being a good tart complement to the sweetness of the other fruits.
Three firm Peaches- They were almost giving the Peaches away, and I like to use them in my Fruit Drinks for their sweetness.
One/Half gallon of Orange Juice- The Orange Juice is the base of the drink, and BTW, I bought the supermarket Generic brand, with Pulp.
Generic, because it was half the price of the name brands sitting right beside it. And because I was going to add alcohol to the drink, so the subtleties of an expensive brand’s supposed superior flavor was going to be “sullied” anyway. Actually, most of the Generic brands available are the excess juices processed by the big name producers anyway, with the major difference being the package and label.
Another thing that I like to do is to steep my fruit for such drinks in the Alcohol for a period of time. Often, I have prepared the fruits as I will show in the directions, and pour the alcohol over the mixture, and then sit this is the fridge for anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight, letting the fruit slowly absorb it.
But, even though I try to take the time to do this, often, I am in a hurry, and just mix the ingredients, chill, and serve. I think taking the time to steep the fruit, reduces the sharpness of the alcohol used, but on the other hand, the drink is also great served fresh.
Regardless, here is my highly variable, but always tasty Fruit and Rum drink recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1 large Navel Orange, fresh and firm
1 medium Lime, fresh
3 medium Peaches, firm and fresh
½ gallon Orange Juice
2/3 pint Rum
DIRECTIONS:
1. Remove about 1 teaspoon of the Zest from the Orange.
2. Remove about 1/2 teaspoon of the Zest from the Lime
3. Place the Zest into a bowl for mixing.
4. Peal the Orange, cut the flesh into small chunks and place into the bowl.
5. Remove the Pit (or stone) from the Peaches, cut the flesh (and skin) into small chunks and place into the bowl.
6. Cut the Lime into very thin slices and place the slices into the bowl.
7. Pour the Rum over the contents of the bowl, stir until mixed well, cover and allow it to steep (1-2 hours).
8. About 15-minutes before you want to serve the drink, pour the steeped mixture into a pitcher.
9. Then fill the pitcher by adding the Orange Juice and Ice Cubes, using 2/3 Orange Juice and 1/3 Ice Cubes.
10. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 15-minutes, and serve, using a small ladle to assure that each drink gets some of the fruit pieces along with the juice and ice.
Serve and Enjoy
NOTE: This mixture will have great flavor, and often people will tell you that they cannot taste any alcohol. For these people, I will often sit out a few shot glass’ with half-shots of Rum for them to either use as shooters, or to pour into their drink, if they wish.
Just place several shot glass’ in a shallow bowl, surround them with ice cubes, and pour the extra Rum into the glass’.
NOTE: You will notice that I added no extra Sugar. I feel that the sweetness of the fruit, especially the Peaches, makes for a perfectly flavored drink, without adding the extra calories. You, of course, should modify this recipe to your own particular taste.
NOTE: Other Fruits to Use: Often, you will see other fruits that you can also use in this freeform concoction of mine, such as Lemon slices of course, Cherries and Grapes (split and remove the seeds), Mango (ripe and chop up just the Flesh), or Pineapple (chop), and so on. Drop a twig of fresh Mint into each drink if you have it, or even a couple of small pieces of soft Mint candies go well. Other choices abound and you should experiment.
