There’s
a basic bar punch mix that
some bartenders will pre mix for maximum efficiency. It’s
a combination of orange juice, pineapple juice, sour mix and grenadine.(Learn
about sour mix at the top of
this page.)So, if a guest asks for a Rum Punch, then this
is what you’d make them including the rum. Many Tropical
drinks will use this bar punch mix.
Hurricane
The
Hurricane was created in the 1940’s at
Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans. At the time, you
had to buy several cases of rum in order to get a case of whiskey,
so the Pat had to figure out a way to use up the extra rum. He
poured the concoction in huge hurricane lamp-shaped glasses and
sold it to tourists and sailors. The rest is history. Know that
the recipe has changed a few times and some even contained Galliano,
bitters, Cognac, and Absinthe, but the basics of rum and fruit
juices have sustained longer than any of those.
Glass: Large Hurricane glass (about 23 oz)
2 ounce of light rum
2 ounce dark rum
2 ounce red passion fruit syrup
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce fresh lime juice
Mixing Method: Some shake then strain into a glass of fresh ice
and some build then roll.
Garnish: flag and a cherry at the minimum.
Note:
Most bars don’t carry passion fruit juice, so they just
omit it or use grenadine in it's place. Also, some bars add a
151 rum floater. No original recipes have ever called for the
floater, but it believed to have started in the 1980’s to
distinguish it from a Planter’s Punch since the passion
fruit was not being used.
The Pat O’Brien’s powdered mix
that you find in stores is not owned by Pat O’Brien’s
anymore. The company that bought it also purchased the rights
to use the Pat O’Brien name. The official Pat O’Brien’s
mix is sold in bottles and can be found at their
website.
Also,
the original Hurricane was NEVER made with Southern
Comfort. That came from Southern Comfort marketing
in the 1980s. To be fair that drink can be called a Southern
Comfort Hurricane.
Planter's Punch
Planter’s Punch has always been associated with Myers’s
Jamaican Dark Rum. The bottle even had the recipe on the back
label for many years.
Glass: Tropical glass.
2 ounces dark rum
Fill with bar punch mix
Mixing Method: Some shake then strain into a glass of ice and
some build then roll.
Garnish: flag and a cherry at the minimum.
Note: Some recipes call for no pineapple juice.
Zombie
The Zombie was created by Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Beaumont
Gantt). Donn was a bootllegger in New Orleans during prohibition
and Pat O'Brien was one of his customers. After prohibition he
moved to Hollywood, CA and opened the first tiki bar, Don
the Beachcomber Restaurant. He invented the first pu pu platter
and many tiki drinks with the Zombie being the most popular. The
Zombie was served at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and
was also known as the Tahitian Rum Punch. Donn’s
rival was Trader Vic (inventor of the Mai Tai), who also
opened tiki-themed restaurants and bars. In most bars across America
you will find bartenders making the Zombie with this recipe.
Tall tropical glass
1 oz gold rum
1 oz 151 demerara rum
1 oz light rum
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz lime juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz passion fruit syrup
1 tsp brown sugar
1 dash Angostura bitters
Pour everything into a shaker tin without ice and stir until the
sugar dissolves. Add ice then shake and strain into the glass
over fresh ice.
Garnish: Mint sprig was the original garnish. Today you'll find
something tropical.
There have been other ingredients in the recipe in
the past like papaya juice, Cherry Heering, Pernod, applejack,
passion fruit juice, and orange curacoa, but most modern bars
don’t carry these items or even get asked for the drink
so most bartenders just make a Hurricane with apricot brandy and
a 151 rum floater.
Mai
Tai
Mai Tai means Out of this World in Tahitian.Vic Bergeron, also known as Trader Vic, claims
to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944, however Don the Beachcomber
says the same thing. Evidence seems to lean towards Trader
Vic though. His original recipe uses Jamaican light and gold
rum, fresh limejuice, a few dashes of orange Curacao syrup, French
orgeat, and rock candy syrup. The gold rum is saved to float on
top of the drink. Now, I know most modern bars don’t carry
orgeat (OAR-zhat, non-alcoholic almond flavored syrup) or Curacao
syrup (CURE-uh-sow, non-alcoholic orange flavored syrup), but
what do you think happened over the years? I’ll tell ya—amaretto
replaced the orgeat, triple sec replaced the Curacao, and the
fresh limejuice and rock candy syrup was replaced by sweet-n-sour
mix. The gold rum was even replaced by dark rum. So a real Mai
Tai should be goldish with a dark top. Just like the Mai Tai’s
Angela Lansbury serves at a party for Elvis Presley in the 1961
film, Blue Hawaii.
Somehow, someway, pineapple juice crept
into the recipe over the years and grenadine followed soon after,
So here are two of the most popular Mai Tai recipes.
Trader
Vic Mai Tai
Double
Old fashioned glass
1 oz aged Jamaican rum (like Appleton’s)
1 oz amber Martinique rum (like St. James or Clément)
.5 oz orange Curaçao
.5 oz orgeat syrup (French almond syrup)
.5 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz Trader Vic’s rock candy syrup (or commercial simple
syrup)
Mint sprig garnish
Shake and strain ingredients over fresh ice.
Copycat Mai Tai
Tropical glass
1 oz light rum
1 oz dark rum
.5 oz triple sec
.5 oz amaretto
2 oz sour mix
2 oz pineapple juice
Pineapple and cherry garnish
Shake and strain ingredients (except dark rum) over fresh ice.
Float dark rum on top.
Rum
Runner
In
the 1500’s, rumrunners were pirates that ran
illegal rum to colonies that were heavily taxed. During prohibition
in the 1920’s the most famous rumrunner was Captain
William McCoy because he didn’t add water to his spirits
like the others. This is how we got the phrase The Real McCoy.
Glass: Tropical glass.
1 ounce dark rum
1/2 ounce 151 rum
1 ounce crème de banana
1 ounce blackberry brandy
1 ounce grenadine
1 ounce Rose’s limejuice
Mixing
Method: blend.
Garnish: Anything tropical.
Of course there are slight variations for
the Rum Runner, but the common ingredients are always banana liqueur,
blackberry brandy, lime, cherry, and rum. This recipe happens
to be the best recipe I’ve ever tasted. You’ll notice
in most bars that the banana liqueur and blackberry brandy always
sit next to each other and the reason is for this drink. When
made on the rocks, most add pineapple juice to fill in the gaps.
Piña
Colada
In
Spanish, Piña Colada means strained pineapple.
The Piña Colada is probably the most popular tropical drink
of all time. It’s said to be invented on August 15, 1954
at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber Bar in San Juan,
Puerto Rico. It’s said that bartender Ramon Monchito
Marrero Perez invented it and served in coconuts and pineapples.
At the time, the drink was not blended. That came a little bit
later when the coconut cream called Coco Lopez made it’s
way to the Beachcomber Bar. The Piña Colada is the official
drink of Puerto Rico.
Glass: Tropical drink glass.
1 1/2 ounces of rum
4 ounces of Piña Colada mix
Mixing Method: blend.
Garnish: Pineapple and cherry flag and just a cherry at the minimum.
Please don’t add an orange.
The very best Piña Colada mix is mixture of
Coco Lopez and pineapple juice. You’ll need about 1 cup
of Coco Lopez for every 3 cups of pineapple juice. However, depending
on your taste you can add more or less of each ingredient. Most
bars will have some kind of Piña Colada mix you’ll
have to use. You can make flavored Coladas by adding strawberry
mix for a Strawberry Colada or Midori for a Melon Colada.
Piña
Colada Family
Chi Chi; it’s just a Piña Colada
made with vodka instead of rum.
Bahama Mama
There are so many recipes for a Bahama Mama.
When I worked on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, I asked a Bahamian
bartender at the popular Nassau Green Door Bar about
it and he said that it’s a cross between a Piña
Colada and a Rum Punch. .
Glass: Tropical drink glass.
1 ounce of light rum
1 ounce of dark rum
2 ounces of Piña Colada mix
2 ounces of bar punch mix
Mixing Method: blend.
Garnish: Pineapple and cherry flag, anything tropical, or just
a cherry.
You’ll see a lot of recipes that use coconut
rum. This is because they are replacing it with the coconut
flavor of the Piña Colada mix then adding pineapple juice.
Some recipes will have banana liqueur and coffee liqueur, but
I tend to stick with what a real Bahamian bartender told me years
ago.
Strawberry
Daiquiri
Glass: Tropical drink glass.
1 1/2 ounces of rum
4 ounces of strawberry mix
Mixing Method: blend.
Garnish: Strawberry, lime wedge, sugared rim, or whipped cream
with a cherry on top. Just depends where you work.
Strawberry
Mix To make flavored mixes all you need is five things; the
fruits (or fruits) of choice, water, sugar, lime juice, and a
blender. It’s easy! Let’s say you want to make strawberry
Daiquiri mix. (1) Take 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of lukewarm
water and shake in a jar. Let the cloudiness go away then shake
again until all the sugar has dissolved in the water. Set aside.
(2) Squeeze a cup of lime juice. Set aside. (3) Cut the tops off
4 cups of ripe strawberries then wash well. You can also use frozen
strawberries and frozen strawberies packed in sugar. (4) Everyone
has a different blender size (and strawberries are different sizes)
so you may have to make the mix in batches. Fill your blender
half with strawberries then pour in half of the lime juice and
half of the sugar water and blend. Your goal to keep adding and
blending ingredients make a pourable mix. Taste as you go. You
may not need all the sugar water depending on the ripeness of
the strawberries. Yields half gallon. Pour into a container and
keep in the fridge.
Most bars have a strawberry mix that they use,
but are usually just sweet strawberry flavored liquid you see
in the mixer section of your local store.Don't buy these! Bars
in tropical locations tend to bump it up a notch and stock better
and meatier brands, however, the very best is making your own.
Also, most people don’t know that lime juice is an essential
part of this drink, but it is and it’s also why it’s
appropriate to garnish with a lime wedge.
Also, it’s easy to make other flavored daiquiris.
If your bar doesn’t provide a lot of flavored mixers then
you’ll have to get creative. For example, you can make a
peach daiquiri by using peach schnapps, limejuice, orange juice
and a touch of grenadine to color it peachy. Just think about
all the different flavored liqueurs that are available to you
and you’ll begin to see that the options are unlimited.
Blue
Hawaii
In
the 1950s, Hawaii went through a phase of exotic
paradise construction to attract tourists. Tropical get-aways
were being built on every island and the largest of these was
the Hawaiian Village on the island of O'ahu. Harry Yee, a 30-year
veteran bartender at the Hawaiian Village was asked by Bols to
help promote their blue Curaçao and the Blue Hawaii
was born. When asked about the orchid garnish his answer
was, “We used to use a sugar cane stick and people would
chew on the stick, then put it in the ashtray. When the ashes
and cane stuck together it made a real mess so I put the orchids
in the drink to make the ashtrays easier to clean.”
Yee was not only the first to put an orchid in a drink
he also put the first paper parasol in a drink and even put a
Chinese back scratcher in a drink he called Tropical Itch. There
are just too many of his drinks to mention, but just know that
at the time there weren’t any “Hawaiian Drinks”
so he was the one responsible for lighting this fire. The Blue
Hawaiian is a spin-off Harry’s Blue Hawaii minus the orchid
and vodka. If you ask for this drink in any bar today, this is
the version will receive.
The
Original Blue Hawaii
Tropical glass
.75 oz of Puerto Rican rum
.75 oz vodka
.5 oz of Bols blue Curaçao
3 oz pineapple juice
1 oz sour mix
Orchid garnish
Shake and strain the ingredients over fresh ice.
Blue
Hawaiian
Tropical glass
1 oz light rum
.5 oz blue Curaçao
3 oz pineapple juice
1 oz sour mix
Pineapple flag garnish
Shake and strain the ingredients over fresh ice.
The Top Tropical Drinks You Must Know
Bahama Mama
Blue Hawaiian
Blue Hawaii
Hurricane
Mai Tai
Piña Colada
Planter’s Punch
Rum Runner
Strawberry Daiquiri
Zombie
