Some of the most famous cocktails in the world originated in the Caribbean, and while they come in a variety of tastes and traditions, they all share one common ingredient: rum. Here are some of our favorite Caribbean cocktails and how you can make them at home.
Piña Colada, Caribe Hilton
The Piña Colada is a midcentury classic that matches perfectly with its birthplace, San Juan’s Caribe Hilton hotel. Bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero invented the popular tropical drink in 1954, originally a non-alcoholic refresher blended in a shaker glass (it was years later that Marrero began adding rum to the mix (the frozen variety arrived even later). The government of Puerto Rico declared the Pina Colada the commonwealth’s official drink in 1978.
Caribe Hilton Piña Colada:
- 2 oz light rum (the resort uses Bacardi)
- 1 oz coconut cream (the resort uses Coco Lopez)
- 1 oz heavy cream
- 6 oz pineapple juice
- ½ cup crushed ice
Directions: Mix rum, cream of coconut, heavy cream and pineapple juice in a blender. Add ice and mix for 15 seconds. Serve in a 12 oz glass and garnish with fresh pineapple and a cherry.
The Daiquiri, Cuba
The Daiquiri, a drink whose name comes from the native Taino people of Cuba, originally began as a lemon-based cocktail but quickly evolved into the more familiar rum-lime-sugar drink we know today. Author Ernest Hemingway loved Cuba, and loved to drink — so much so that his favorite Havana bar (El Floridita) named a drink after him, El Papa Doble. This potent concoction consisted of 3-3/4 oz. of Bacardi White Label Rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops of maraschino cherry liqueur. Consider that the evil stepfather of the Hemingway Daiquiri, which contains the same fruit juices but a far more modest 2 ounces of rum plus a quarter ounce of simple syrup.
Painkiller, Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands
In the British Virgin Islands are two claimants to the heritage of the Painkiller cocktail: the Soggy Dollar Bar and Pusser’s rum. As the story goes, Daphne Henderson, a bartender at the famous White Bay beach bar, invented the drink in the 1970s, then later refined it with the assistance of Pusser’s founder Charles Tobias, a regular customer at the bar. Today you can order a Pusser’s Painkiller at bars throughout the BVI, although if you order the drink at the Soggy Dollar it’s now made with the bar’s own private-label rum. Either way, the drink follows a simple recipe: two parts rum shaken with four parts pineapple juice, one part orange juice, and one part cream of coconut, topped with fresh ground nutmeg.
Ti’ Punch, Martinique
Short for Petit Punch, this brilliantly simple cocktail from the French Caribbean puts the unique flavor of Rhum Agricole from Martinique on center stage. Prepared in a rocks glass, the drink is 2 ounces of agrocole rum (distilled directly from sugar cane juice, not molasses), cane syrup, and lime juice; in Martinique or Guadeloupe, the barman would swirl the ingredients vigorously with a bois lele, a natural swizzle stick made from the wood of the quararibea turbinata plant, a.k.a. the swizzlestick tree. Traditionally served at room temperature or slightly chilled, with a lime wheel as a garnish.
Mojito, Cuba
Take your pick of which legend to believe about the origins of the Mojito — pirates who visited Cuba under the command of Sir Francis Drake, African slaves working the Cuban cane fields, or bartenders at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana. What’s undisputed is that this classic mix of white rum, lime juice, mint leaves, and sugar syrup originated in Cuba. The last three ingredients were intended to take the edge off the harsh rums originally used in the drink; today’s far more refined rum makes the Mojito an easy-to-drink delight on a summer day.
Rum and Coke, or Cuba Libre, Cuba
There’s no rum drink as ubiquitous as the rum and Coke, served with or without a lime wedge (and sometimes as a shot and chaser combo) at bars throughout the Caribbean. It’s other nickname, the Cuba Libre, hints at the drink’s origins: American soldiers in Cuba during the Spanish Civil War were said to have first mixed the local rum with the Coca-Cola imported from the U.S. (“Cuba Libre” was the slogan of the Cuban independence movement of the time).
Goombay Smash, Bahamas
Invented at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar on Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, the Goombay Smash is traditionally made with dark rum, coconut rum, apricot brandy, and pineapple juice, although bars sometimes forgo the brandy and add orange juice.
The Original Goombay Smash
- 2 oz dark rum
- 1 oz coconut rum
- 1/2 oz apricot brandy
- 3 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz orange juice
Shake all ingredients, pour over ice, garnish with a cherry and a pineapple slice.
Rum Punch, Everywhere
It’s safe to say that you’ll find rum punch on every island in the Caribbean, most following the easy to remember recipe originated in Barbados, one of the top rum-producing nations in the world: “one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.” As popular in Colonial America as it is at Caribbean beach bars today, rum punch comes in endless varieties, including this one from Elegant Hotels in Barbados:
Classic Bajan Rum Punch
1 measure freshly squeezed lime juice
2 measures simple syrup
3 measures Mount Gay rum
4 measures of water
Mix in a Collins glass over ice, finish with a dash of Angostura bitter and grated nutmeg.
Planter’s Punch, North Carolina/Jamaica
Rum punch is strongly associated with the Caribbean, but this one originated in the Carolinas (albeit fueled with Jamaican Rum). The Planter’s Punch was first served at the Planter’s Hotel in Charleston, S.C., in the late 19th century (punches were among the first mixed drinks invented), and the classic mix of dark rum and orange, pineapple and lemon juice blended with grenadine, simple syrup, and bitters as endured through the centuries.
1 ½ oz. dark rum (typically Myers’s)
2 oz. sweet fruit juice
½ oz. lime juice
¼ oz. simple syrup
Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled glass. Floater of dark rum optional.
Bushwacker, St. Thomas, USVI
Unlike the Piña Colada, the Bushwacker never had a deeper history as a more sophisticated cocktail: it was invented as a rich, frozen drink to appeal to tourists in the mid-1970s at the Ship’s Store/Sapphire Pub in Sapphire Village, St Thomas. You can still order a Bushwacker at the Sapphire Beach Bar in St. Thomas or at the bar atop Paradise Point in Charlotte Amalie.
- 1 ounce Dark Rum
- 1 ounce Kahlúa
- 1 ounce Dark Crème de Cacao
- 2 ounces Cream of Coconut
- 2 ounces Milk or Half & Half
- 1 cup ice
Mix in blender until smooth, garnish with maraschino cherry.