Tropical
Drinks All Bartenders Should Know
Buy
this tropical girl drink print from Garry Palm
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.
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.
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Hurricane |
The
Hurricane is said to be invented
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 owner had to figure out a way to use up the extra rum.
He poured the concoction in hurricane lamp-shaped glasses and
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: Hurricane glass.
1 ounce of light rum
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce passion fruit juice
Fill with bar punch
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: Most bars don’t carry passion fruit juice, so
they just omit it. 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.
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.
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Zombie |
The Zombie was created by Donn Beach
(born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt), owner of the tiki-themed
Don the Beachcomber Restaurant in Hollywood, CA. The
drink 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, who also opened tiki-themed restaurants
and bars. In most bars across America you will find bartenders
making the Zombie with this recipe.
Glass: Tropical glass.
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce apricot brandy
Fill with bar punch mix
1/2 ounce 151 float
Mixing Method: Some shake and strain into a glass of ice then
float and some build and roll then float.
Garnish: flag and a cherry at the minimum.
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.
Donn’s original recipe had, light rum, gold
rum, 151 rum, limejuice, lemon juice, pineapple juice, passion
fruit syrup, brown sugar, and bitters garnished with a mint sprig.
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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.
Glass: Tropical glass.
#1
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce dark rum float
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce amaretto
2 ounces sour mix
Mixing Method: Some shake and strain into a glass of ice then
float and some build and roll then float.
#2
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce dark rum
1/2 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce amaretto
2 ounces sour mix
2 ounces pineapple juice
1/2 ounce grenadine
Mixing Method: Some shake and strain into a glass of ice and some
build and roll.
Garnish: pineapple flag and a cherry at the minimum.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Most
bars have a strawberry mix that they use, but
are usually just sweet strawberry flavored liquid like the crap
you see in the mixer section of your local store. Bars in tropical
locations tend to bump it up a notch and stock better and meatier
brands, however, the very best is using fresh crushed ripe strawberries,
fresh lime juice and simple syrup blended together to make a pourable
strawberry mix. At home you can buy the frozen strawberries that
are packed in sugar to help bulk up the mixture. 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.
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Blue
Hawaiian |
It’s
believed that bartender, Harry Yee from Hawaii
invented this drink in 1957. His original recipe has equal parts
of pineapple juice and sour mix and garnished with an pineapple
and orchid.
Glass: Tropical drink glass.
1 ounce of light rum
1 ounce of blue Curacao
Fill with pineapple juice
Mixing Method: Shake.
Garnish: Pineapple slice, pineapple flag, or a cherry at the minimum.
The
Top Tropical Drinks You Must Know
Bahama Mama
Blue Hawaiian
Hurricane
Mai Tai
Piña Colada
Planter’s Punch
Rum Runner
Strawberry Daiquiri
Zombie
