This Rum and Aurum Liqueur cocktail is light, fruity, not too sweet, and is perfect for any pre-summer celebrations (even Easter or Mother's Day Brunch). Sweet pineapple, Tarocco blood oranges, strawberries, lime, and crunchy freeze-dried coconut chips make a delicious fruit punch juice base for this cocktail. Add a little San Pellegrino or other sparkling mineral water and watch a beautiful layer of pink foam develop (making it even prettier). We suggest making extra juice (it's really good), to have for breakfast, or for those who may want a Renato Mocktail instead.

pink stream of strawberry juice falling into the juicer carafe on top of the pineapple and blood orange juice

top down view The Zio Renato in a Reidel water glass with a garnish of lime, blood orange, pineapple, and strawberry with strawberry sugar rimming the glass and coconut pieces floating on top of the orange-coral colored cocktail with the pineapple top and glass liquor bottles in the background

all the raw ingredients to make the Zio Renato on a cutting board with the sun beating down on them warmly

pineapple wedges, orange slices and coconut on a pink marble serving stray

strawberries, coconut flakes, and blood oranges on a pink marble serving tray

blood orange slices, lime slices, and coconut flakes on a pink marble serving tray

What's a Renato Rum Cocktail?

Zio Renato and Zia Gloria (aka Uncle Renato and Aunt Gloria) are L's aunt and uncle who were from Pescara, Italy (Abruzzo region). Much like all of L's family, every time we visited them, they had copious amounts of homemade Italian food to stuff us with and they would usually finish the meal with a little bit of locally-made Aurum liqueur and biscotti or other small dessert. Aurum (which is an 80 proof liqueur) is distilled from sweet local Abruzzo oranges and blended with herbs, fruit, and brandy before being aged in oak casks. It gets its signature gold color in part from the addition of saffron. Gabriele D'Annunzio, the famous poet, journalist, and playwright from Pescara gave this sweet liqueur its name take from the latin word for "gold" (aurum). Aurum has a sweet orange flavor (similar to Cointreau), so it works perfectly with rum here to add a bit of fruity warmth to fresh-squeezed homemade fruit punch juice. Zio and Zia gifted us this bottle of Aurum the last time we saw them and when we finally decided to open it, I wanted to make a drink that reminded me of them -- bright, fun, and full of life (and also a frou-frou drink they probably would've laughed at and made fun of♡).

The Zio Renato in a Reidel water glass with a garnish of lime, blood orange, pineapple, and strawberry with strawberry sugar rimming the glass and coconut pieces floating on top of the orange-coral colored cocktail with the pineapple top and glass liquor bottles in the background

The Zio Renato Rum Cocktail (Rum + Aurum Cocktail) Ingredients

Fruity and warm, this cocktail is a perfect drink for summer. Be sure to get a perfectly golden pineapple so that it's sweet and fragrant. Juice extra fruit punch so anyone who may not want an alcoholic beverage can still have enjoy a healthy juice, or mocktail. Feel free to change up the fruit with whatever you have on hand, but this assortment is really fruit-punchy.

Cocktail Ingredients

4 ounces Havana Club Rum Especial (110g)
1 ounce Aurum Liqueur (25g)
12 ounces homemade Fruit Punch juice (345g) (*recipe follows)

Homemade Fresh-Squeezed Fruit Punch Ingredients

1 pound fresh sweet pineapple (500g)
½ medium Tarocco Blood orange
juice from ½ lime
5 ½ ounces strawberries (about 6 strawberries) (160g)
freeze-dried coconut flakes (optional but recommended)
San Pellegrino sparkling water (optional but recommended and it creates a beautiful foamy top)

all the raw ingredients to make the Zio Renato on a cutting board with the sun beating down on them warmly and a Reidel water glass rimmed with strawberry sugar

foamy pink strawberry juice falling into the juicer carafe on top of the pineapple and blood orange juice

How to Make a Renato Rum Cocktail

This is an easy cocktail to make and it's full of summery flavors. I like to add the sparkling mineral water to the tops because it makes the drink a little less sweet, gives is some carbonation and makes a really fluffy foam layer at the top.

Wash and peel the fruit. Peel the kiwis and oranges and wash the blueberries and strawberries.
Rim the glass with strawberry sugar. Using a slice of lime, rub it around the rim of the glass. Then dip the rim into strawberry sugar (or other sugar if desired).
Juice the fruit. Juice the fruit and give it a stir to combine all of the juices.
Assemble the Cocktail. Pour 12 ounces juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and add 4 ounces Havana Club Rum Especial (110g) and 1 ounce Aurum Liqueur (25g). Shake vigorously until nicely chilled and split the mixture between 2 glasses. Top each glass off with a little sparkling water (if using), garnish, and serve immediately and Enjoy!