Raise a toast to September 20th, National Rum Punch Day. Punch is a general term for a broad assortment of mixed drinks, made with or without alcohol. The drink originated on the Indian Subcontinent, and was called paantsch.

The word “punch” derives from that Hindi word, also spelled panch, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit panchan, meaning five. In India, panch was made from five different ingredients: sugar, lemon, water, tea or spices, and an alcoholic spirit; hence the name.

Punch was “discovered” in India by the British sailors of the East India Company. The concept was brought to England in the early 17th century.

From there it spread to other countries. While Western punch recipes generally contain fruit or fruit juice, fruit isn’t essential.

Nor is an elegant punch bowl required: A pitcher is fine, and in many cases, it’s more practical.

We’ve got a number of rum punch recipes for you, starting with two from Hawaii’s Koloa Rum.

Rum is a New World product. It wasn’t until 1655 when Jamaican rum was introduced to make punch, that the rum punch was born.

The first two recipes have a Hawaiian twist. They’re made with Koloa Rum, which is distilled on the island of Kauai from pure cane sugar and Hawaiian mountain rainwater.

You can find more drink recipes the on Koloa Rum website.
 
 
RECIPE #1: WATERMELON RUM PUNCH
 
Ingredients For 2 Drinks

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the watermelon, lime juice from 1 lime, and the sugar in a blender, and blend until liquid.

2. MUDDLE the mint and juice from 1/2 lime in a cocktail shaker. Add the rum, watermelon mixture, and ice.

3. SHAKE well and strain into rocks glasses over fresh ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wheel, fresh mint, and a watermelon wedge.
 
 
RECIPE #2: SPICED PINEAPPLE RUM PUNCH

You’ll fill up a 64-ounce pitcher with this recipe, which makes 60 ounces of punch.
 
 
Ingredients For A Party Pitcher

 
Preparation

In advance, chill all the ingredients (except the bitters), as well as the pitcher (64 ounces or more).

1. MAKE the rim sugar. Combine ground cinnamon with sugar in a ratio of 1:4. Dip the rims of tall glasses into a saucer of water, then twist them in a saucer of cinnamon sugar.

2. COMBINE all of the drink ingredients in the pitcher and stir thoroughly to combine.

3. ADD ice to the glasses and fill them with the punch.
 
 
MORE PUNCH RECIPES

 
 
________________

*Look for a pineapple with nice leaves for garnishing. You can substitute basil, rosemary, or thyme leaves.

[1] Recipe #1: Watermelon rum punch (all photos © Koloa Rum).

[2] Recipe #2: Spiced rum and white rum combine with pineapple and orange juices.

[3] Koloa White Rum.

[4] Koloa Spiced Rum.

[5] Koloa also sells a bottled Rum Punch.

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[1] Use extra virgin olive oil for much more than salad dressing (photos #1 © Flavor Your Life).

[2] Brush the grill, and your food, with EVOO (photo © California Olive Ranch).

[3] Bake super-moist cakes with EVOO. Here’s the recipe (photo © Lucero Olive Oil [now closed]).

[4] EVOO adds extra creaminess to already-creamy ice cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © Local Food Rocks).

[6] Dip bread in olive oil. It’s delicious as well as good for you. Butter is delicious, but not good for you (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[7] Poach fish in olive oil. Here’s the recipe for this poached salmon (photo © Pom Wonderful).

[8] Make a pesto for pasta, or just use the olive oil as your sauce. Here’s the recipe for this casarecce pasta with broccoli rabe and pesto (photo © Love & Olive Oil).

[9] Close up of olives on the branch. (photo © Emilio Sanches Hernandez | Pexels).

[10] With either green or black olives, tapenade is a great bread spread. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pompeian).

Updated August 2026

Thanks to California Olive Ranch, producer of extra virgin olive oils, for our Tip Of The Day: baking, cooking and grilling with EVOO.

Extra virgin olive oil is one of the best oils to cook with. Use it for baking, frying, poaching, sautéing and finishing.

Extra virgin olive oil holds up well under high temperatures, and brings a uniquely nuanced flavor profile to your dish. Plus, its health benefits, including heart healthiness, are terrific.

Below:

> Grilling with EVOO.

> Cooking with olive oil.

> Baking with olive oil.

> Frying with olive oil.

> Recipes with olive oil instead of butter.

> The year’s 7 olive and olive oil holidays.
 
Elsewhere On The Nibble:

> The history of olive oil.

> The different types of olive oil: a photo glossary.

> An overview of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

> Check your extra virgin olive oil.

> How to taste and evaluate olive oil.

> The Sensory Wheel: understanding the different flavors and aromas of olive oil.

> Why you should switch from butter to olive oil.

> More uses for EVOO.
 
 
1. GRILLING WITH EVOO

It’s a common misconception that olive oil’s smoke point is too low for grilling. That may be true of much grocery store olive oil, but high quality EVOO has a smoke point of more than 425°F.

A grill’s temperature is 400°-450°F for high heat, 350°-400°F for medium-high, 300°-350°F for medium, and 250°-300°F for low heat.

Extra virgin olive oil is some of the freshest and highest-quality oil available among cooking oil. All those antioxidants help it hold its form at higher temperatures.

Lower quality olive oils such as virgin olive oil or simply “olive oil”, on the other hand, have a high free fatty acid content and will smoke at a lower temperature (the different types of olive oil).

Brush the grill. A light brushing of EVOO on the grill will do wonders in keeping your foods from sticking. Just don’t get heavy handed: You don’t want oil dripping into the flames.

Mist your meats and seafood. Use an EVOO spray several times as they are grilling. This creates a glaze and adds yet another layer of flavor.

Instead of a spray, dip herbs in EVOO. Tie together a bunch of fresh rosemary or thyme, and use it as a brush to baste your foods with olive oil as they grill. It will infuse your food with flavor as it grill. Alternatively, you can tie fresh herbs onto your basting brush and infuse their flavor that way.
 
 
2. COOKING WITH EVOO

A staple in your kitchen, EVOO is versatile and useful for many purposes beyond grilling. Some key uses:

 
 
3. BAKING WITH EVOO

Baking with extra virgin olive oil is a sure way to add complexity of flavor and more moisture to baked goods.

> Here are the benefits of baking with olive oil instead of butter.

For starters, it’s a great way to reduce the amount of saturated fat in of your favorite treats.

Baking with extra virgin olive oil is easy with this conversion chart.

You can even make olive oil ice cream! Here’s a recipe.
 
 
4. FRYING WITH EVOO

A long-standing myth is that olive oil’s smoke point can’t stand up to the high heat required for frying.

High-quality extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point upwards of 425°F, well above the ideal frying temperature of around 350°F.

A general rule of thumb: the higher the quality and the fresher an oil is, the higher the smoke point will be.

Lower quality olive oils such as virgin or crude, on the other hand, have a high free fatty acid content and will smoke at a lower temperature

 
 
5. RECIPES WITH OLIVE OIL INSTEAD OF BUTTER

 
 
6. THE YEAR’S 7 OLIVE & OLIVE OIL HOLIDAYS

Plan ahead to celebrate these olive oil and olive holidays:

 
 
 
 

[11] Compare Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “The Olive Trees,” with the grove below (photo in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum Of Art).
 

*The grades of olive oil based on levels of acidity: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil, Lampante Virgin Olive Oil, Refined Olive Oil, Refined Pomace Olive Oil, Olive Oil and Pomace Olive Oil. Each type has a different smoke oil. Unless labeled Extra Virgin, a grocery store olive oil brand is typically Refined Olive Oil or Olive Oil.

Some grocery store brands labeled Olive Oil, Cooking Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil. Pure olive oil is not at all pure: It’s a portion of Extra Virgin or Virgin Olive Oil blended with Refined Olive Oil. The blending method is often used when the extraction quality of the Refined Olive Oil is not as good as expected. In order to improve the quality, the refined oil has to be mixed with a better quality one for better flavor [source].

*World Olive Tree Day, November 26th, was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2019. It celebrates the olive tree’s cultural, environmental, and peace-symbol significance—not just its fruit or oil. A common alternative used by the olive sector is World Olive Day. It is informally called International Olive Day, but that is not UNESCO’s formal title.
 

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You don’t have to be a student to enjoy Hannah Kaminsky’s eighth vegan recipe book, The Student Vegan Cookbook (see all eight below).

Anyone who has a tight budget, a crazy-busy schedule, and limited kitchen equipment can make amazing vegan meals, snacks and treats.

The Student Vegan Cookbook shows you how, with tips, tricks, and hacks for dormitory-room and small-kitchen cooking.

There are lots of creative, nutritious, and delectable recipes spanning the whole day, from rushing-off-to-class quick-fix breakfasts to midnight treats for chilling and unwinding.

Award-winning vegan blogger Hannah Kaminsky has walked the walk, cooking delicious meals for herself and her roommates during her own college years.

Fast-forward a few years: Hannah is now a professional food writer and photographer who has created a stunning book full of truly scrumptious, easy-to-make, 100% vegan recipes.
 
 
WHAT’S IN THE STUDENT VEGAN COOKBOOK

There are 85 yummy recipes, each with its own beautiful photograph. They include:

 
Whether you’re a vegan, a vegetarian or simply an omnivore who wants to eat healthier…

Whether you live at home, in your own apartment or in a dorm…

You’ll kick your cooking and eating game up to the next level with this inventive and incredibly useful book.

Stock up for holiday gifts!

Get your copy wherever fine books are sold; Amazon links to Hannah’s cookbooks are below.

Order directly from Hannah’s website if you’d like a personalized signed copy.

MORE NEW RECIPES: Sign up for Hannah’s blog to get her latest vegan recipes.
 

VEGAN COOKBOOKS, WRITTEN & BEAUTIFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED BY HANNAH KAMINSKY

 
 
VEGAN, VEGETARIAN…WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Check out the differences between:

[1] Hot off the presses: The Student Vegan Cookbook. For a personalized copy, head here (all photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Another Kaminsky cookbook, featuring vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less.

[3] Ice cream fans will love this book of plant-based frozen desserts.

[4] With the holidays not far away, this peppermint roulade from Super Vegan Scoops.