Two ingredients and a glass of ice: 50 ml coconut rum and 100 ml pineapple juice. That is the simplest of all coconut rum cocktails, and most of the ten recipes below grow out of it, with orange juice, lime, coconut cream or a second rum added. Each recipe gives measures in millilitres and the glass to use, and the prep time is under five minutes for every drink except the coquito, which needs a night in the fridge. They are grouped by season, because a bottle of coconut rum earns its place in December as much as in July, and the list ends with a Puerto Rican coquito and a spiked hot chocolate.
One thing to know before you mix. Malibu, for example, is a coconut flavoured liqueur made with white rum and bottled at 21% ABV. Our Coconut Spiced Rum Liqueur is a coconut liqueur too. Both are already sweet, so each cocktail here goes easy on sugar syrup and lean on lime, pineapple and ginger to stay fresh.
What to mix with coconut rum
For a quick long drink, pick a mixer, build it over ice in a highball glass and stir once. These amounts work with Malibu rum or any other coconut rum.
| Mixer | Coconut rum | Mixer amount | Finish with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pineapple juice | 50 ml | 100 ml | A squeeze of lime |
| Orange juice | 50 ml | 120 ml | 15 ml grenadine |
| Cranberry and pineapple juice | 50 ml | 75 ml of each | A lime wedge |
| Ginger beer | 50 ml | 150 ml | A lime wedge |
| Cola | 50 ml | 120 ml | A lime wedge |
| Coconut water | 50 ml | 120 ml | Toasted coconut flakes |
Summer coconut rum cocktails, long, cold and tropical
1. Coconut rum and pineapple
Fill a highball glass with ice, pour in 50 ml coconut rum, top with 100 ml pineapple juice and squeeze a lime wedge over it. Garnish with a pineapple wedge or two maraschino cherries. This drink takes two minutes and needs no shaker.
2. Piña colada with coconut rum
The IBA's piña colada recipe is 50 ml white rum, 30 ml cream of coconut and 50 ml pineapple juice, and Puerto Rico made it the island's official drink in 1978. With coconut rum, split the spirit and cut the sweetness: 25 ml white rum, 25 ml coconut rum, 20 ml unsweetened coconut cream, 60 ml pineapple juice and a cup of ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a tall glass. For a rich, creamy version, swap 20 ml of the juice for coconut milk, and for a frozen piña colada, put two cups of ice in the blender instead of one.
3. Coconut rum punch for six
A rum punch is the easy way to serve coconut rum to a crowd, and this rum punch recipe is a tropical one. In a large jug, combine 300 ml coconut rum, 600 ml pineapple juice, 200 ml orange juice, 100 ml fresh lime juice and 50 ml grenadine. Add a big block of ice with sliced oranges and pineapple, then ladle it over fresh ice and garnish every glass with maraschino cherries. You can mix this rum punch an hour ahead and keep it in the fridge, adding the ice just before you serve it.
Three ways to change the rum punch: add 100 ml white rum or gold rum to make it stronger, top each glass with soda water to make it lighter, or swap half the pineapple juice for cranberry juice for a pink rum punch.
4. Coconut bay breeze
Build 50 ml coconut rum, 75 ml cranberry juice and 75 ml pineapple juice over ice in a highball glass. Stir once. It is a tart, fruity drink rather than a sweet one, and that is the point.
5. Coconut rum sunrise
Fill a highball glass with ice, add 50 ml coconut rum and 120 ml orange juice, then pour a splash of grenadine, about 15 ml, slowly down the inside of the glass so it sinks and fades upwards. Finish with an orange slice and maraschino cherries, and stir just before drinking.
6. Coconut mojito
In a highball glass, press 8 to 10 mint leaves gently with 25 ml lime juice. Add 50 ml coconut rum, fill the glass with crushed ice, stir, top with soda water and garnish with a mint sprig. The coconut rum does the job of the sugar syrup in a classic mojito recipe, so taste the drink before you add any.
Short coconut rum cocktails for any time of year
7. Painkiller with coconut rum
The Painkiller cocktail was created in the 1970s at the Soggy Dollar Bar at White Bay, on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, according to its Wikipedia entry. The classic mixes rum with four parts pineapple juice, one part cream of coconut and one part orange juice. Keep that ratio and bring in coconut rum: 50 ml coconut rum, 25 ml gold rum, 120 ml pineapple juice, 30 ml cream of coconut and 30 ml orange juice. Shake hard with ice, pour over crushed ice and grate fresh nutmeg on top.
8. Coconut espresso martini
Shake 40 ml coconut rum, 25 ml vodka, 25 ml fresh espresso and 15 ml coffee liqueur hard with plenty of ice, then double strain into a chilled martini glass. Our Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur works well here. Garnish this cocktail with three coffee beans. If coffee and liqueur is your thing, Michelle's pistachio cold brew cocktail is the long, iced version.
Winter coconut rum cocktails for Christmas
9. Coquito
Coquito, "little coconut", is a traditional Christmas drink from Puerto Rico, usually made with Puerto Rican rum, coconut milk, cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and spices. Some families add egg. This version does not. Combine 200 ml coconut rum, 400 ml coconut milk, 200 ml sweetened condensed milk, 100 ml evaporated milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of ground clove in a blender until smooth. Chill it overnight in a sealed bottle, shake before pouring, and serve it in small glasses to sip after dinner, with grated nutmeg on top. The recipe makes about eight.
10. Coconut rum hot chocolate
Make 200 ml hot chocolate with milk and real chocolate, take it off the heat and stir in 35 ml coconut rum. Top with lightly whipped cream and grated dark chocolate.
Our Coconut Spiced Rum Liqueur
Every recipe here works with any coconut rum. Ours is Coconut Spiced Rum Liqueur: rum from the Dominican Republic, aged by the solera process, then spiced and blended with coconut, with notes of vanilla. The spice suits the coquito and the hot chocolate, and it stands up in a Painkiller. In our Stamford shop you can taste before you buy, and the bottles are refillable there.
Order Coconut Spiced Rum Liqueur in four bottle sizes from 350 ml to 1 L, or try a 40 ml bottle first: it is one of the eight in our Rum Taster set.
Our spiced rum cocktails use the same measures with spiced rum, and the rum collection has the rest of the range, including Queen Pineapple Spiced Rum for a pineapple-heavy rum punch.
Coconut rum questions
What is a good mix with coconut rum?
Pineapple juice is the classic, at 50 ml coconut rum to 100 ml juice over ice. Orange juice, cranberry juice, ginger beer, cola and coconut water all work too, at the amounts in the table above.
Is Malibu a rum?
Not strictly. Malibu rum, as it is often called, is a coconut flavoured liqueur made with white rum in Barbados and bottled at 21% ABV. Its owner, Pernod Ricard, sells it as a flavoured rum where local rules allow.
Can you drink coconut rum neat?
Yes. Pour 35 to 50 ml over one large ice cube and add a twist of orange peel to balance the sweet edge.
