Tiki Time: 20 Tropical Cocktails That Transport You Somewhere Warm
Mai Tais, Piña Coladas, Jungle Birds, and Island Escapes
Why These 20 Tiki Cocktails?
Tiki is cocktail-making at its most ambitious and most fun. Multiple rums, multiple juices, syrups you've never heard of, mugs shaped like Easter Island heads — the aesthetic is maximalist and the drinks are layered in ways that reward both careful construction and enthusiastic consumption. Don Beachcomber and Trader Vic invented the tiki style in the 1930s and '40s, and the best tiki drinks remain some of the most complex and rewarding cocktails ever created.
This guide collects 20 tropical cocktails from the tiki tradition. You'll find Piña Coladas, Blue Hawaiis, and Jungle Birds alongside deeper cuts that use falernum, orgeat, and allspice dram to create flavors you won't find anywhere else. The Menehune Juice, the Honi Honi, and the Tropical Sunrise Collins each capture a different facet of tiki's magical combination of rum, fruit, and spice.
Tiki drinks look complicated, but most come together in under five minutes. The hardest part is stocking the ingredients; after that, it's just measuring and shaking.
Menehune Juice
Orgeat and triple sec give this rum sour its almond-citrus tiki soul.
Named after Hawaiian folklore spirits, this blend of rum, orgeat, triple sec, and lime is a gateway tiki drink with classic flavor.
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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Also try: Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup
- Fill old-fashioned glass with crushed ice
- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice to shaker
- Shake well
- Strain into glass over crushed ice
- Garnish with lime wedge, mint sprig, and Menehune
- Serve with straws
Blue Hawaii
Blue curacao stains this pineapple-rum classic the color of the Pacific.
The Blue Hawaii is tiki royalty — rum, Blue Curacao, pineapple, and lime in a drink that looks as good as it tastes.
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0.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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Also try: Marie Brizard Orange Curaçao
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3.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
- Fill Collins glass with ice
- Pour blue curaçao into ice-filled glass
- Add sugar syrup, pineapple juice, and lime juice to shaker with ice
- Shake well
- Carefully strain mixture into glass to create a layer floating on the blue curaçao
- Gently float rum on top of the drink
- Garnish with pineapple wedge, Luxardo Maraschino cherry, and paper parasol
The Tiki Pantry: What You Actually Need
Tiki's reputation for requiring 47 obscure ingredients is overblown. With these essentials, you can make most tiki cocktails: two rums (a white and an aged Jamaican), fresh lime juice, fresh pineapple juice, orgeat (almond syrup), simple syrup, and Angostura bitters. That's your starting lineup.
From there, add ingredients as recipes demand them: falernum (a spiced lime syrup-liqueur), allspice dram (pimento), coconut cream (for Piña Coladas), and overproof rum for floats. The key is building your tiki shelf gradually — buy what you need for the next recipe, and before you know it, you've got a respectable collection. No one stocks a full tiki bar in a single shopping trip.
Tropical Sunrise Collins
Apricot liqueur and Galliano add a honeyed warmth to rum and pineapple.
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0.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
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2.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Honi Honi
Bourbon goes tiki with orgeat, triple sec, and a generous squeeze of lime.
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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Also try: Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
Pina Colada Cocktail
Aged rum and fresh pineapple juice — the Pina Colada done right.
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0.25 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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4.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Potted Parrot
Orange juice, lemon, and triple sec make this rum punch sing.
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Also try: Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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2.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed orange juice
The Port Royal Swizzle
Port wine and allspice dram bring dark, spiced mystery to this swizzle.
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Also try: Hamilton Pimento Dram Liqueur
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0.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
Black Rum Swizzle
Dark rum, falernum, and two tropical juices in a bitters-dashed swizzle.
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1.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed orange juice
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Also try: Peychaud's Bitters
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1.50 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Tropical Berry Smash
Acai and passion fruit liqueurs crash into vodka with grapefruit and pineapple.
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1.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
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1.50 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Fu Manchu Daiquiri
A whisper of creme de menthe makes this daiquiri cool and mysterious.
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0.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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Also try: Menthe Verte Spearmint Liqueur
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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0.75 fl oz Chilled water (reduce if wet ice)
Southern Sunrise Rum Collins
Southern Comfort and white rum team up with pineapple and lime cordial.
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2.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
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0.75 fl oz Rose's lime cordial
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kava
Two rums and a double-citrus hit — tiki minimalism at its finest.
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
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1.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Plantation Punch
White rum, pineapple, and lime — a simple punch with serious charm.
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.25 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
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0.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
Jamaican Sunset Old Fashioned
Appleton Estate rum gets the Old Fashioned treatment with tropical juices.
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0.50 fl oz Pressed apple juice
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0.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
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Also try: Peychaud's Bitters
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Rum Punch
Overproof Wray & Nephew rum, Angostura bitters, and lime — punch that carries heat.
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Also try: Peychaud's Bitters
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3.00 fl oz Chilled water
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1.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
Tropical Mai Tai Sling
Pineapple liqueur and orgeat put a sling spin on the Mai Tai.
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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Also try: Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup
Blue Caribbean Sidecar
Blue curacao and triple sec double up on citrus in this rum sidecar.
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0.75 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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Also try: Marie Brizard Orange Curaçao
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1.00 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Zombie Cocktail
Three rums, apricot liqueur, and Grand Marnier — the legendary Zombie lives.
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2.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed orange juice
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2.50 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
Tropical Two-Step
Tequila and aged rum trade steps over grapefruit and pineapple juice.
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
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0.50 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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2.50 fl oz Fresh pressed pineapple juice
Between Decks
Gin, cranberry, and OJ sail into tiki territory with lime in tow.
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0.25 fl oz Giffard Sugar Cane Syrup (Sirop Sucre de Canne)
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1.00 fl oz Freshly squeezed orange juice
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1.00 fl oz Cranberry juice
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0.50 fl oz Freshly squeezed lime juice
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0.50 fl oz Chilled water (reduce if wet ice)
Shop the Spirits in This Guide
Spirit Categories: Rum · Liqueurs · Syrups · Bitters · Whiskey · Other Specialty
Shop by Style: Light Rum · Fruit Liqueurs · Dark Rum · Nut & Seed Syrup · Herbal & Spice Liqueurs · Herbal & Spiced Bitters · Fruit Syrup · Bourbon Whiskey
Get Specific: Light Rum · Orange Liqueur · Brown Rum · Almond Syrup · Other Herbal & Spice Liqueur · Apricot Liqueur · Aromatic Bitters · Other Fruit Liqueur · Grenadine · Overproof Rum
Build Your Tiki Bar
Rum, falernum, orgeat, and all the tropical ammunition behind this guide — available for delivery. Tiki mugs optional but encouraged.
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