Apfelpunsch mit Rum (Warm Apple Punch with Rum)

This warm winter drink uses local apple cider and white rum to recreate one of our favorite holiday punch, or punsch, drinks we enjoyed at Vienna’s Christmas Markets. 

I never could have guessed it would be so hard to find apple cider around here. Apples are plentiful enough in the South Central Valley, but why so few people are turning those apples into delicious cider has surprised me.

Thinking back to my days in Kentucky and Indiana, the second apple season starts, the cider shows up on the shelves. Every store has at least a couple varieties both pasteurized and unpasteurized. It’s a fall and holiday staple in that part of the world.

Here I found one store with one cider and it was pasteurized. Others I’ve found have tried to pass apple juice as cider. Not a chance. I can tell the difference.

I got super lucky a couple weeks ago, though. There is a booth at our farmers market that sells some outstanding fresh pomegranate juice. I decided to swing by on my last visit and take a look at their selection.

Guess what I found. Apple cider! It’s the real deal, too. You can tell the whole apple was used to make it. It has a delicious fresh apple flavor.

While it was sitting in the fridge, I got to thinking back to our time at Vienna’s Christmas Markets. If you remember my post about that visit, you may recall the punsch. The markets there had more varieties of spiked holiday punch than either of us had ever seen. A standard flavor was always apple.

So with apple cider on hand, I decided it was time to recreate it at home. But what should I spike it with? Well, we quickly found that many of the spirits used in the market drinks are a bit, um, rough around the edges. They taste great in the drinks, but alone, not so much. 

On our last trip to Jamaica, we brought back a bottle of Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum. That stuff. Whoa! It will put hair on your chest. So as you can imagine, we haven’t used much. But it has some similarities to the spirits used in the drinks at the market and it turns out it is perfect for this punsch!

Don’t worry, this recipe makes a small serving and there is only a dash of rum in it, so it’s not going to knock you off your feet. Just sip, let it warm you up and enjoy the holiday season!

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