If you've ever sipped a rum drink from a tiki head, there's a good chance you've had a tiki cocktail. Classic tiki drinks include cocktails like the mai tai and the zombie - mixed full of fruit with a fancy, tropical flare that will transport you straight to an island paradise with your toes in the sand and an umbrella in your drink.
But just because they're fancy doesn't mean tiki drinks need to be difficult to make. If you need a mini-vacation at home, you can use simple recipes to create easy tiki drinks that are just as delicious as their complicated counterparts.
Ginger Caipirinha
Brazil's national drink, the caipirinha uses a Brazilian cane spirit called cachaça that's related to rum. It's easy to add ginger syrup to this simple tiki cocktail for a spicy twist on the original that still brings you the tiki vibe.
Ingredients
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¾ ounce ginger syrup
- 1½ ounces cachaça
- Ice
- Lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, ginger syrup, and cachaça. Add the ice and shake to chill.
- Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Orange Dark and Stormy
The dark n' stormy is the national drink of Bermuda made with Gosling's black seal rum, and it's a simple combination of dark rum and ginger beer. When you use any other rum, it becomes a dark and stormy. Adding a hint of orange is the perfect complement to the sweet and spicy flavors of the rum and ginger.
Ingredients
- ½ ounce orange liqueur
- 1½ ounces dark rum
- Ice
- 4 ounces ginger beer
Instructions
- In a pint glass, combine the orange liqueur and dark rum.
- Add the ice and stir.
- Top with the ginger beer.
Frozen Mango Colada
This drink is super easy because all you do is dump your ingredients in the blender and push a button. It's a variation on the piña colada that's the perfect tropical drink anytime you could use a little of that island feel. Bonus tiki points if you serve it in a coconut shell.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Malibu rum
- 1 cup fresh or frozen mango chunks
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- 2 ounces coconut cream
- ½ cup crushed ice
- Pineapple wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the Malibu rum, mango chunks, pineapple juice, coconut cream, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with the pineapple wedge.
Strawberry Coconut Mojito
Aside from shaking in a cocktail shaker, the only other drink mixing technique you need to know how to do for this drink is to muddle mint and strawberries, which essentially consists of lightly smashing them in the cocktail shaker with a muddler or another blunt, sterile tool. This version combines strawberries and coconut with refreshing mint for a pleasing tiki cocktail.
Ingredients
- 3 strawberries, hulled
- 8 mint sprigs
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- ¾ ounce lime juice
- 1½ ounces Malibu rum
- Ice
- Soda water
- Mint sprig for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries, mint, and simple syrup.
- Add the lime juice, Malibu rum, and ice and shake to chill.
- Pour (don't strain) into a pint glass. Top off with soda water.
- Garnish with a mint sprig.
Cherry Blue Hawaiian
Adding a hint of cherry liqueur to a blue Hawaiian maintains the vibrant blue of the original tiki drink (maraschino liqueur is colorless), but it adds an interesting depth of flavor that will have the Tiki Gods nodding in approval.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce Malibu rum
- 1 ounce blue curaçao
- ½ ounce cherry liqueur
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- Crushed ice
- Lime wedge and cherry for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum, blue curaçao, cherry liqueur, and pineapple juice.
- Add the crushed ice and shake to chill.
- Strain into a cocktail glass filled with crushed ice.
- Garnish with the lime wedge and the cherry.
Coco-Banana Frozen Daiquiri
Daiquiris are simple concoctions, especially when you make blended frozen daiquiris. Simply measure your ingredients into a blender and mix. If you don't have falernum, feel free to substitute ginger simple syrup.
Ingredients
- ½ banana, peeled, sliced, and frozen
- ½ ounce banana liqueur
- ¼ ounce velvet falernum
- ¾ ounce lime juice
- 1½ ounces Malibu rum
- ½ cup crushed ice
- Banana slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the banana, banana liqueur, falernum, lime juice, coconut rum, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a banana slice.
Tiki on the Beach
Take a tiki twist on a traditional favorite usually made with vodka, and you'll get a tasty, fruity tiki cocktail. Tiny paper umbrella optional.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces cranberry juice
- 2 ounces pineapple juice
- 1 ounce pineapple flavored rum
- ½ ounce spiced rum
- 1 ounce peach schnapps
- Crushed ice
- Cherry for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the cranberry and pineapple juices, pineapple rum, spiced rum, peach schnapps, and crushed ice. Shake to chill.
- Strain into a pint glass filled with ice and garnish with the cherry.
Rum Jogger
The rum runner is a tiki drink with a lot of ingredients, making it a cocktail for the fast lane. The rum jogger is a simplified version with fewer ingredients so it's easy for beginners.
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces dark rum
- ½ ounce blackberry liqueur
- ½ ounce banana liqueur
- 4 ounces orange juice
- Splash of grenadine
- Ice
- Orange slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the dark rum, blackberry liqueur, banana liqueur, orange juice, grenadine, and ice. Shake to chill.
- Pour (don't strain) into a collins glass.
- Garnish with the orange slice.
Orange Cuba Libre
Whether you call it a Cuba libre or a rum and coke, this is one tiki drink that's ridiculously easy to make but super satisfying. This version uses dark rum, orange instead of lime, and cola for caramel and citrus notes.
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces demerara rum
- 1 ounce orange juice
- Ice
- Cola
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum and orange juice. Add ice and shake to chill.
- Strain into a highball glass filled with ice.
- Top with cola and garnish with an orange wedge.
Piña Spritz
Not quite a piña colada but with all the flavor, this simple and tasty highball is a delightful take on a classic tiki drink.
Ingredients
- Ice
- ¾ ounce velvet falernum
- 1 ounces pineapple rum
- 1 ounce coconut rum
- 2 ounces coconut water
- 2 ounces coconut seltzer
Instructions
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add the falernum, pineapple and coconut rum, and coconut water. Stir.
- Top with coconut seltzer.
Coco for Coffee
My personal favorite simple tiki drink is one I make for friends and family all the time. It gets high marks, and it is so simple.
Ingredients
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¾ ounce velvet falernum
- 1½ ounce coconut rum
- Ice
- ½ ounce kahlua
- Lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine lime juice, falernum, coconut rum, and ice. Shake to chill.
- Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with kahlua - don't stir.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Passion for POG Highball
If you've got a passion for POG (passion-fruit/orange/guava) drink, then you've got three-quarters of your tiki drink already in a carton. All you need to do is add rum and ice, stir, and plop in a little paper umbrella. Way to take the fast-lane to your tiki drink paradise, you.
Ingredients
- Ice
- 6 ounces POG drink
- 2 ounces dark rum
Instructions
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add the POG and dark rum. Stir.
Easy Tiki Cocktails With a Laid-Back Vibe
You know those kinds of days where you need a vacay, but it's a school night and nobody's willing to watch the kids for a week while you jet off to Polynesia? Those are the nights for easy tiki drinks. With a few simple ingredients, a little rum, and those paper umbrellas you have stashed in the back of your pantry so the kids don't use them for their Barbies, you can be whisked away to the laid-back vibe of your favorite tiki bar on a breezy, sunny Polynesian island. There. Now doesn't that feel better?
