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Made with three kinds of rum and fresh citrus, this refreshing and easy tiki cocktail comes together quickly and will make your happy hour feel a bit more tropical.
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Tiki drinks can be intimidating with a long list of ingredients. They’re traditionally rum-based with lots of fresh juice and mixers. All that fresh juice gives these cocktails a sweet and fruity vibe, making them the perfect summery drink.
Tiki recipes can get complicated and use ingredients that aren’t easy to find. So let’s create simple tiki drinks with orange juice and pineapple juice!
The three rums in this drink - white rum, dark rum, and coconut rum - are all easy to find in any liquor store and can be purchased at a variety of price points.
Dark rum cocktails aren’t super common in home bar recipes, so unless you’re really into tiki drinks, feel free to buy the small bottle (375ml) of dark rum, if it’s available.
What's in a Tiki Cocktail
- White rum - Choose your favorite. Bacardi is the most common and easy to find white rums on the U.S. market. It's great for this recipe as well as mojitos.
- Coconut rum - Malibu rum is my favorite coconut rum and is also super easy to find in stores. (Use it in this cocktail, and also to make this Malibu Bay Breeze.)
- Dark rum - Dark rum is an essential tiki drink ingredient. A little goes a long way, but it's needed to give this cocktail depth of flavor.
- Orgeat syrup - A sweet almond syrup (it contains nuts!), orgeat is found in the mixer section of your favorite liquor store.
- Simple syrup - Traditional simple syrup is easy to make at home with two ingredients - sugar and water! Mix it up ahead of time so it can chill before making your cocktail.
- Pineapple juice - Choose 100% pineapple juice, not juice blends or mixes.
- Orange - Fresh citrus is what makes a good cocktail a great one. Don't use bottled juice and squeeze a fresh orange.
- Lime - Choose a fresh lime for this cocktail. You'll need about half a lime per drink.
How to Make an Easy Tiki Cocktail
Combine everything in a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes.
Shake well.
Strain into a glass filled with ice.
Garnish with pineapple leaves, pineapple slices, orange slices, lime wedges, and/or maraschino cherries.
Enjoy!
FAQs and Substitutions
Fresh juice is important in this recipe for the orange and lime juice. You should need about half of each fruit for the recipe. If you do decide to use bottled juice, make sure the orange juice is pulp free.
Make your own simple syrup by combining ½ cup white sugar with ½ cup hot water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate until your syrup is completely chilled before using. Simple syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Orgeat is a sweet, non-alcoholic, almond flavored syrup. You can usually find it in the alcohol mixer section of your liquor or grocery store. If you don't have orgeat syrup on hand, you can just leave it out. I love what it add here, but the cocktail is still tasty without it.
A big one! This is a high volume drink and when you add the ice, it'll fill a large glass. If you don't have any tiki glasses on hand (like these pineapple glasses), use a highball glass, tall drinking glass, or a pint glass.
You can see from the ingredients photo, I'm using common, national brands for the liquors in this drink. Malibu Rum definitely has the market on coconut rum and it works great in this recipe. Rum comes in a LOT of options and can get very pricey. Use your favorites in this drink, but don't feel like you need to go with the most expensive brands.
What to Serve with Easy Tiki Cocktails
A sweet cocktail needs a salty snack. Try my savory spiced nuts made with fresh rosemary, or these bacon wrapped dates with almonds.
Looking for More Rum Cocktail Recipes?
Rum cocktails are delicious and especially refreshing in the summer months. A Blue Hawaiian, some Rum Punch, or Blue Mojito are perfect poolside sips. These blueberry mojitos are a twist on classic mojitos and combine fresh mint and blueberries with light rum and club soda for a fizzy cocktail. Or try my take on a Hemingway Daiquiri, a less-sweet drink named for Earnest Hemingway who famously loved rum cocktails.
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Easy Tiki Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz coconut rum
- 1 oz white rum
- 0.75 oz dark rum
- 1 oz orgeat syrup
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 2 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz orange juice fresh squeezed
- 0.5 oz lime juice fresh squeezed
Instructions
- Combine everything in a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes.1.5 oz coconut rum, 1 oz white rum, 0.75 oz dark rum, 1 oz orgeat syrup, 1 oz simple syrup, 2 oz pineapple juice, 1 oz orange juice, 0.5 oz lime juice
- Shake well for 10-15 seconds.
- Strain into a tall glass filled with ice cubes.
- Sip and enjoy!
Ruth Moore says
Sounds delicious!