I mixed up one of these on a whim after making a batch of ginger simple syrup and fell in love. Even back in July, I realized that the strong ginger flavor would carry this drink into the brown & orange months long after my taste for summer sours went off to hibernate. It calls for ginger simple syrup, which is pretty easy to make, and I suggest you make yours strong. You’ll want the ginger to stand up against the lime.

To make the ginger simple syrup start with a large ginger root. Peel the ginger and cut into large enough pieces that grating won’t cause problems. Grate all your fresh ginger with a cheese grater and set aside. Boil 2 cups water along with 1 ½ cups cane sugar. Stir as you heat ‘til liquid is clear. Let sugar water boil for about 45 seconds, then add ginger and boil for another two minutes. Take off heat and let mixture cool to room temperature. Strain out all the ginger and bottle the liquid. Syrup will last in your bar fridge for around 6-8 weeks.

Here we go –

• 2 oz dark rum (Appleton or Pusser’s are perfect)
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• ¾ oz ginger syrup

Shake ingredients with ice in shaker ‘til frothy & freezing. Pour up into a cocktail glass or serve over rocks in a rocks glass. Garnish w/ a lime wedge.

 

I love punches. I find them very refreshing, relaxing and exactly what the doctor ordered during barbecue evenings. The sour blast in this one sets the tongue up perfectly for the grilled meats to come. Apricot brandy, which is just such an old fashioned flavor, works very well in this one. Like most drinks I adore, there’s something remembered in this drink; she’s an old one and you can taste it.
(Created by Don the Beachcomber around 1932, Beachbum Berry supplies this recipe in his book Grog Log)

Here we go –

• ½ oz Lime juice
• ½ oz Grapefruit juice
• ½ oz Apricot Brandy
• ½ oz Simple Syrup
• 1/8 tsp of Pernod (I substitute Absinth)
• 1 ½ oz Demerara Rum
• Dash Angostura Bitters

Blend with 6 oz crushed ice for 5 seconds. Pour into a pilsner glass & add more ice to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Also be sure and check our recipe list here on the site for drinks like the Singapore Sling, Pina Colada, Ordinary Seaman, the Buccaneer, Horny Monkey, and Suffering Bastard and more. Any one of them would be perfect for your tiki party or barbecue.

Found this one in the excellent book “Tiki Drinks” by Adam Rocke. I love the lemony taste of 7-Up much more than any other citrus soda, just something old-school about it. Probably the easiest cocktail here to mix, the Green Chartreuse can be kind of tough to find and a little expensive. However, many cocktails call for it so this drink could be the one to make you go out and get a bottle. This is a very refreshing, fun to give and receive tropical drink.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Vodka
• 1 ½ oz light or white Rum
• 1 oz Blue Curacao
• 1 tbsp of Green Chartreuse
• 7-Up

Fill tall glass or tall tiki mug up with ice and add all ingredients except 7-Up. Stir, then fill with 7-Up. Remember the straw.

I’m going to take a sec and give special credit to writer and Tropical Drink Guru, Beachbum Berry, from whose wonderful collection of researched and rediscovered tropical drink books, I picked up the following two recipes. His books can as easily be read for their informative history of the Tiki phenomena or for just the thrill of uncovering lost drink recipes. I have most of his books, and believe me when I say they’re juice-stained and rum-soaked from almost constant use from May through September.

The coffee and chocolate flavors combining with the pineapple juice really impart exactly what many search for in a tropical cocktail; far from the average, exotic and fun. This is one for poolside, positively. Not as sweet as you might think with the addition of unsweetened juice. (This recipe is a modification of a drink in the Top of Toronto restaurant circa 1970. I discovered it in Beachbum Berry’s book Intoxica.)

Here we go –

• 4 oz unsweetened Pineapple juice
• ¼ oz Kahlua
• ¼ oz Crème De Cacao
• 2 oz Gold Rum

Shake well with ice cubes, and then strain into tall glass or tiki mug that you’ve filled with crushed ice.

You can make a Daisy with almost any liquor. This is a pretty basic & simple cocktail to make, yet with the addition of summer fruit, she sings. A tall glass and lots of ice add up to a great chugger.

Here we go –

• Crushed ice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• ½ oz Curacao
• ½ to ¾ oz lemon juice
• 3 oz Rum

Shake above ingredients with ice in shaker till ice cold. Pour everything, including ice, into a tall glass or hurricane. Float summer fruit – melon balls, peach slices or blueberries – in the glass and top with club soda.

Without a doubt, this Hemingway favorite jumped right to the top of this summer’s drink list. I had my first at a great little bar on a hot June day, went home and whipped up a few more. I don’t know if it’s the grapefruit or the maraschino, but something in this drink refreshes in a great and unique way. I prefer this one on the rocks but plenty like it as an ice-blended drink more.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Silver or White Rum
• 1 oz lime juice
• ½ oz grapefruit juice
• ¼ to 1/3 oz (to taste) Maraschino liqueur

Mix ingredients with ice and pour it all into a tall glass or blend in a blender with ½ cup of ice and pour into a medium glass. Lime wheel as garnish for either.

A late spring drink, the Santa Rosita cocktail would be the perfect one for a mid-May evening in the yard, as the azalea bushes are in full bloom and the bugs are still a few weeks away from blood-thirsty. Created by Florida bartender, John Lermayer, this one will get all the praise at the party. It calls for muddled watermelon, and mid-May is when the good ones start showing up at the grocery store. This is positively delicious and also calls for wine which you’ll already have open for your guests anyway.

Here we go –

• 1 oz Domaine de Canton liqueur (a superb ginger liqueur you can easily find now)
• 1 1/2 oz white rum
• 1 oz Sauvignon Blanc (it’s important that you use a crisp, dry, fruity white wine for this)
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 4 smallish, seeded chunks of watermelon

Muddle watermelon in shaker, add ice along with other ingredients, shake till mixed and cold. Strain (try and catch the majority of the melon pulp) into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with a lime twist.

I’ll just go ahead and warn you, this classic American cocktail requires a little bit of building, so if you think you and your guest may want a second or fourth, I suggest the pitcher. Just multiply my recipe by 8 and you should be all set. They’re delicious and make the summer a little less hot.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Rum
• 3 tablespoons Limejuice
• 2 tablespoons powdered or confection sugar
• 3 dashes Bitters
• Club Soda

In a separate glass mix sugar and limejuice ‘til sugar’s dissolved.

Fill a hi-ball glass 2/3rds of the way with crushed ice add the lime/sugar mix, rum and bitters and stir. Fill the rest of the glass up with club soda, stir lightly to mix. Dust with a little extra powdered sugar. Garnish with an orange slice, a pineapple spear and a cherry.

Yum.