Slush Puppy Deluxe

From Lemonade, by Fred Thompson. Published with permission. Harvard Common Press, ©2013. Photograph by Susan Byrnes.

• Servings: Makes about 2 quarts.

Fred Thompson's Lemonade has 50 recipes that can satisfy anyone's summer thirst.  In this recipe he gives a mix of tea, lemonade, orange juice, a little lemon-lime soda, plus some spine with the addition of dark rum. 

Here's his inspiration:  "Imagine a hot, sweltering, humid day. Then imagine the coolest of ways to quench your thirst. If you have this stuff in the freezer, you are prepared to beat the heat."

Ingredients

• 4 1⁄2 cups cold water
• 2 regular-size tea bags
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• One12-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• One12-ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 cup dark rum
• Chilled lemon-lime soda, as needed

Directions

1. Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the tea bags, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. You want a strong tea. Remove the tea bags without squeezing them and let the tea cool. This can be made a day in advance.
2. Combine the sugar and remaining 31⁄ 2 cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, cover, and let cool.
3. Pour the tea, sugar syrup, and lemonade and orange juice concentrates into a 5-quart Dutch oven. Add the rum and stir until blended. Place in the freezer. After about 1 hour, stir the mixture. Do that once more, then allow the mixture to firm up.
4. To serve, spoon about 3⁄ 4 cup of the slush into an old-fashioned glass. Top with the soda, stirring until slushy. Return the remainder of the mixture to the freezer and use as needed.