This is what I imagine Clarence from It’s a Wonderful Life wanted when he ordered a “flaming rum punch”.

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I can’t tell you the number of times I quoted It’s a Wonderful Life over the Christmas weekend while creating and drinking this amazing punch. It’s the perfect holiday spiced drink that adults can enjoy with the rum and kids can enjoy without the rum. It’s sweet and spicy and has almost all my favorite holiday flavors. Give this one a go for New Year’s or next time you have a party!

Ingredient details:

• Apple Cider – Make sure you use cider and not apple juice. The flavor will be much more rich.
• Ginger Ale – I used Canada Dry, but any brand should do. Most sodas are vegan.
• Orange juice – I used fresh squeezed oranges from 3 oranges. If you want to buy the orange juice, I would use 1 cup of orange juice.
• Lemon juice – I used the juice from two lemons. If you want to buy pre-squeezed, use 4-5 tbsp of lemon juice.
• Lime juice – I used the juice from two limes. If you want to buy pre-squeezed, use 4 tbsp of lime juice.
• Pumpkin spice – I just used Simply Organic brand.
• Whole Cloves, Anise stars, Cinnamon sticks – Whenever I look in the store they will charge like $7.00 for a tiny jar of cinnamon sticks alone. I found some bulk version of these whole spices on Amazon for only $30 and it came with a TON of each spice!
• Apples – I used 2 honeycrisp apples, thinly slices.
• Frozen cranberries
• Organic sugar – Make sure to use organic sugar so it’s free of animal byproducts if you live in the US. This is to dip the rims of the glasses in sugar.
• Optional: Rum. I used Kraken rum, but any kind will do. Most hard liquors are vegan unless they are dairy based.

Recipe List

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

1 quart ginger ale

1 cup orange juice (or 3 oranges).

4 or 5 tbsp of lemon juice (or two lemons)

4 tbsp lime juice (or two limes)

2 tsp pumpkin spice

2 honey crisp apples (thinly sliced)

15 whole cloves

10 cinnamon sticks

12 anise stars

1 cup frozen cranberries

Garnishes: extra anise stars, cinnamon sticks, cranberries. Dip glasses in 1/2 cup of organic sugar to crystalize on the rims.

Optional: rum (1/2 shot per serving)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients and add rum if desired! Garnish each serving if desired. Drink it all up and enjoy!! Bone-Apple-Tea.

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