QB Cooler

Name: QB Cooler
Yield: 1 cocktail
Cuisine: Tiki
Ingredients: 0.5 oz fresh lime juice; 0.5 oz fresh orange juice; 0.5 oz honey mix (1:1 honey to warm water); 1 oz dark [Jamaican rum](/library/jamaican-rum) (Coruba, [Smith & Cross](/library/smith-and-cross), or Myer’s); 1 oz gold [Puerto Rican rum](/library/puerto-rican-rum) ([Bacardi](/library/bacardi) 8 or Don Q Añejo); 0.5 oz [demerara](/library/demerara) rum; 0.5 oz ginger syrup; 2 dashes [Angostura](/library/angostura) bitters; 1 oz soda water

citrus tropical complex

Three rums—Jamaican, Puerto Rican, and demerara—with honey, ginger, citrus, and bitters. A complex layered build that rewards patience and good ingredients. Reportedly the drink that inspired Trader Vic to invent the Mai Tai.

QB Cooler cocktail in a tall Collins glass over crushed ice with mint and an orange slice, lit by warm tungsten light in the Forbidden Altar bar

The History

A Donn Beach original from the late 1930s. Part of a family of rum-heavy builds using honey mix and ginger to create depth. Legend has it that Trader Vic tasted a QB Cooler at Don the Beachcomber, decided he could make something simpler and better, and went home to invent the Mai Tai a few years later. Named with a naval designation, reflecting Donn’s lifelong fascination with maritime iconography.

Servings

Ingredients

0.5 oz fresh lime juice
0.5 oz fresh orange juice
0.5 oz honey mix (1:1 honey to warm water)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum (Coruba, Smith & Cross, or Myer’s)
1 oz gold Puerto Rican rum (Bacardi 8 or Don Q Añejo)
0.5 oz demerara rum
0.5 oz ginger syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 oz soda water

Directions

Combine all ingredients except soda water in a shaker with crushed ice.

Shake until well-chilled.

Strain into a Collins glass over fresh crushed ice.

Top with soda water.

Garnish with a mint sprig and an orange slice.