Jungle Juice Punch

The legendary party punch that's launched a thousand college memories. Multiple spirits, tropical juices, and fresh fruit combine into something dangerously delicious and deceptively strong.

Jungle Juice Punch is a large-format American party drink whose name traces to military slang for improvised alcohol. During World War II, American soldiers stationed overseas with limited access to commercial spirits produced improvised alcoholic beverages from whatever fermentable or distillable materials were available — fruit, grain, or any other sugars — and called the results jungle juice, the term reflecting both the makeshift jungle environments where many were stationed and the rough, improvised character of the drink. The term entered American civilian slang in the postwar period, and by the 1960s and 1970s it was associated with large-batch party drinks made by combining available spirits with fruit juice in the most accessible proportions rather than according to any established recipe. College party culture adopted and standardized the format: large communal containers — garbage cans, coolers, or punch bowls — filled with a combination of rum, vodka, and inexpensive fruit juices became a fixture of American university social gatherings from the 1970s onward. The drink's defining characteristics are large volume, low cost per serving, and easy preparation for groups of any size. No authoritative recipe exists for jungle juice, which is understood to be improvised from whatever is available.