Lychee Martini
You’ve seen this on the menu of your favorite sushi spots and love the milky, sweet taste as a switch up from your usual dirty martini.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
6 oz. vodka
4 oz. lychee juice
Splash of vermouth
2 lychees for garnish
Directions:
Pour ice into shaker. Add the vodka, lychee juice and vermouth. Shake until contents are chilled. Pour contents into martini glass and garnish with lychees. For the real restaurant experience, add an orchid.
Blue Lagoon
Feel like a high roller gambling with Caribbean businessmen with this colorful drink. This drink is made from laraha fruit grown on the island of Curacao.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 oz. vodka
2 oz. blue curacao liqueur
Lemonade
Maraschino cherries for garnish
Directions: Pour the vodka and curacao over ice in a highball glass. Top it off with lemonade and garnish with cherries.
Piña Colada
You’ve undoubtedly sipped one of these by a pool with an umbrella in it. But did you know it’s the official drink of Puerto Rico?
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 oz. of white rum
2 oz of dark rum
3 oz. of coconut cream from a can
2 oz. of double cream or whipping cream
6 oz. of pineapple juice
Dash of angostura bitters
Maraschino cherries to garnish
Pineapple slice to garnish
Directions: Pour all ingredients into a blender and mix for 15 seconds. Pour the contents into a hurricane glass and garnish with pineapple or cherries.
Mai Tai
Mai Tai translates to “out of this world” in Tahitian. This Polynesian-style drink is perfect for sipping under the light of tikki torches, and maybe with a roasted boar. It’s been around since 1944!
Ingredients:
2 oz. of light rum
1 oz. dark rum
1 oz. of crème de almond
1 oz. of triple sec
Sweet and sour mix
Pineapple juice
Directions: Pour the light rum, crème de almond and triple sec—in that order—into a collins glass. Top it off with equal parts of pineapple juice and sour mix. Add the dark rum and serve unstirred.
Mango Daquiri
The Mango Daquiri is an icon in Cuba. A little bar called the El Floradita in Havana first made it famous but now just about any Cuban bartender can make one to perfection.
Ingredients:
Crushed ice
2 oz. of dark rum
0.5 oz. of orange curacao liqueur
6 oz. of mango chunks
3 oz. of sweet and sour mix
Directions: Mix up the rum, orange curacao, mango and sour mix in a blender, along with one cup of ice cubes. Pour the contents into a tall glass and garnish with a mango chunk.
Between the Sheets
Sometimes called “The Maiden’s Prayer,” this is one flirty vintage drink.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
¾ oz. light rum
¾ oz. brandy
¾ oz. triple sec
½ oz. lemon juice
Lemon twists for garnish
Directions: Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with the lemon twists.
Rum Runner
This cocktail was created in honor of the illegal alcohol smuggling during the Prohibition era. To make up for all those liquorless years, it is strong.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
¼ cup rum
1 tablespoon of coconut rum
2 tablespoons of banana liqueur
2 tablespoons of blackberry brandy
½ cup of orange juice
Dash of grenadine
Orange and lime wedges for garnish
Directions: Pour the rum, coconut rum, banana liqueur and blackberry brandy into a tall glass full of ice. Top it off with the sour mix and orange juice. Add a dash of grenadine and garnish with orange and lime.
Malayan Gold
Named for the elegant currency in Malaysia, this drink is all luxury and filled with tropical flavors.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Pisang Ambon liqueur
1 oz. anisette
1 oz. mandarin juice
½ oz. pomegranate juice
½ tsp. caster sugar
Directions: Pour all ingredients into a shaker. Shake until chilled and strain into a double-cocktail glass filled with crushed ice.
Bahama Mama
To make it really authentic, serve it in a coconut just like they do in the Bahamas. It’s not just for women, but you might want to put on a grass skirt when you sip it.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
½ oz. coffee liqueur
1 oz. dark rum
1 oz. coconut liqueur
½ oz. 151-proof rum
Juice of one lemon
8 oz. pineapple juice
Maraschino cherries for garnish
Directions: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Pour into a collins glass with cracked ice (wrap ice cubes in a tea towel and crush with a mallet). Garnish with cherries.
The Angel Azzurro (Blue Angel)
This Italian specialty can be seen from across the bar and combines three exotic liqueurs.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Safari liqueur
1 oz. Blue Curacao liqueur
1 oz. Pisang Ambon liqueur
2 oz. passion fruit juice
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 tsp. egg white
Orchid (optional)
Strawberry (optional)
Directions: Pour all three liqueurs, plus the juices and egg white into a shaker. Shake until chilled then strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Garnish with fruit and flowers.
