Drinks on the Beach: photo credit - Peter Shepherd

The Best Caribbean Cocktails Drink Recipes to Make at Home

26 May 2020 3 min

The beautiful white sands and the jade-coloured sea make the Caribbean one of our favourite sailing destinations, but there is something else that makes us love this region. Rum. The spirit of choice in the Caribbean and the magic ingredient for some of the world’s most popular fruity, and spicy, cocktails. As we cannot travel quite yet, we thought we would share some of our favourite rum cocktail recipes to get you in the spirit, give you a taste of paradise and transport you to the magnificent Caribbean islands.

#1 – The Painkiller: Transport yourself to the BVIs

A twist on the Piña Colada, the Painkiller cocktail is a rich and fruity tropical drink that is a specialty of the British Virgin Islands. Coconut cream, orange juice and pineapple juice join rum in this drink that brings the tropics right to your glass.

2 oz Pusser’s rum
4 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Orange juice
1 oz Cream of coconut
Garnish: Grated nutmeg
Garnish: Pineapple wedge

Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a hurricane glass or snifter over crushed ice. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and a pineapple wedge. Serve with a straw and voila!

#2 – The Goombay Smash: The Bahamas

The modern idea for a smash is a drink with a good dose of spirit and a combination of fresh fruit juices. The Goombay Smash is a popular example of this modern variation. The original smash was created in Green Turtle Cay, at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar. This drink is now popular throughout the Caribbean and you’ll see why!

6 tablespoons pineapple juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Malibu rum or other coconut-flavored rum
2 tablespoons light rum
2 tablespoons gold rum
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 pineapple wedges
2 orange slices

Fill cocktail shaker with ice; add pineapple juice, orange juice, and all rum. Cover and shake until very cold. Fill 2 short glasses with ice. Strain cocktail mixture over, dividing equally. Garnish with pineapple wedges and orange slices. Raise glass, and toast!

#3 – The Caipirinha: Brazil

Caipirinha is Brazil‘s national cocktail and is made with cachaça, the country’s most common distilled alcoholic beverage. The basic caipirinha recipe, similar to a Mojito, is a cinch to make and uses just three ingredients.

2 oz. cachaça
1/2 lime
2 tsp. sugar

Slice the lime and then cube the lime and muddle them in an Old-Fashioned glass with the sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes. Pour in the cachaça. Serve with a stirring rod and some Brazilian dancing spirit!

#4 – Calabash Cocktail: Grenada

Grenada grows 20 per cent of the world’s nutmeg – hence its name, the “Spice Isle” – so it’s not surprising that the ingredient makes its way into the island’s classic drinks.

White rum
Grenadian nutmeg syrup
Lime juice—freshly-squeezed
Spoonful of caster sugar
Blue Curacao
Grated nutmeg

Mix the white rum with the Grenadian nutmeg syrup together with the fresh-squeezed lime juice. Add a spoonful of caster sugar and a bit of Blue Curacao for vibrancy. Top it all off with nutmeg and hey presto—your very own Calabash Cocktail!

#5 – Antigua Smile: Antigua and Barbuda

One sip will transport you across the seas to Carlisle Bay, delightfully sun-kissed and quarantine-fee. There is much about Antigua to keep you smiling and hopefully, soon enough, you’ll be there, blissfully quarantine-free. See you on the beach.

Black Pineapple
1 ½ ounces dark rum
1-ounce crème de banana
1½ ounces pineapple juice
½ ounce sour mix Method
Mango Wedge

Take 1.5 ounces of dark rum, 1 ounce of crème de banana, and 1 ounce of fresh pineapple juice and half an ounce of sour mix and shake all ingredients together with crushed ice. Afterward, pour in a tumbler and garnish with mango and pineapple wedges.

Soon we will all be traveling again, and when we are, the Caribbean will be waiting for you with the welcoming, and unbeatable, spirit it is famous for. Until then, we hope you enjoy the taste of the islands!