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Recipes

The Recipes

From the Mai Tai that started it all to the Zombie that ends the night.

New to exotic cocktails? Start with The Path—a checklist for everything from your first Daiquiri to the deep canon. Three drinks in, you’ll be ahead of most bars.

Showing 47 recipes
Mai Tai cocktail in a double rocks glass over crushed ice with a mint sprig and lime wheel, lit by warm tungsten light against the dark, mask-lined bar of the Forbidden Altar
Practitioner The Canon Rum

Mai Tai

Chris’ Pick

The drink that launched a thousand tiki bars. Trader Vic’s 1944 original is a masterclass in balance—a blended base of aged Jamaic…

citrusnuttytropical
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The Zombie shown two ways—the canonical tall chimney glass on the left and the ceremonial dark-ceramic carved tiki mug on the right, both packed with crushed ice and a mint sprig, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest The Canon Rum

Zombie

Chris’ Pick

Donn Beach’s 1934 original—the drink that started tiki. Three rums layered with falernum, citrus, grenadine, and a precise six dro…

citrustropicalstrong
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Zombie Punch in a tall zombie glass over crushed ice, bright golden-orange with a mint sprig, lit by warm tungsten light in the Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest Late Era Rum

Zombie Punch

Chris’ Pick

The lighter, fruitier evolution of Donn Beach’s Zombie that took over tiki bar menus in the 1950s and ’60s. Pineapple, lemon, pass…

citrustropicalstrong
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A Piña Colada—white rum, Coco López cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, blended smooth
Initiate Late Era Rum

Piña Colada

Puerto Rico, 1954. White rum, fresh pineapple, cream of coconut, blended with ice. The drink your beach trip was modeled on—and a …

tropicalcoconutfruity
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A Hurricane—dark rum, passion fruit, lime, and grenadine in a tall curved hurricane glass
Initiate Late Era Rum

Hurricane

Pat O’Brien’s New Orleans, late 1930s. Dark rum, passion fruit, citrus, and grenadine in a curved glass shaped like a hurricane la…

tropicalfruitystrong
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Jungle Bird cocktail, deep red-orange in a tall hurricane glass over cubed ice with a pineapple wedge and fronds, on a brass-rimmed wood bar in the dim Forbidden Altar room
Practitioner Late Era Rum

Jungle Bird

The rare exotic cocktail built around Campari. The bitter-tropical collision is genuinely surprising—pineapple and Campari shouldn…

bittertropicalfruity
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Fogcutter cocktail in a tall Collins glass over crushed ice with a sherry float and mint sprig, lit by warm tungsten light in the Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest The Canon Multi-Spirit

Fogcutter

Trader Vic’s most ambitious creation: rum, gin, and brandy in the same glass, balanced with citrus and orgeat, finished with a she…

citrustropicalcomplex
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Jungle Bird (Gonzalez Revision), deep red-orange in a rocks glass over a large clear ice cube with a pineapple wedge and fronds, against a mirrored backbar in the dim Forbidden Altar room
Practitioner Revival Rum

Jungle Bird (Gonzalez Revision)

Chris’ Pick

Giuseppe Gonzalez’s mid-2010s rework of the 1978 Kuala Lumpur Hilton original—demerara syrup in place of straight simple, a hard s…

bittertropicalfruity
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Three Dots and a Dash shown two ways—the canonical tall footed pilsner glass on the left and a dark-glazed carved tiki mug on the right, both packed with crushed ice and the Morse-code skewer (three brandied cherries plus a pineapple chunk spelling V) laid across each rim, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest The Canon Rum

Three Dots and a Dash

Donn Beach’s 1944 victory drink—the title is Morse code for ‘V.’ Two aged rums, falernum, honey, and a precise dash of Pernod, gar…

citrustropicalcomplex
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Test Pilot cocktail in a heavy double old-fashioned glass, dark amber over ice with a maraschino cherry on an oyster fork, in the Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest The Canon Rum

Test Pilot

A Donn Beach original with falernum, triple sec, a dash of Pernod, and two rums. The anise note from the Pernod is nearly impercep…

spicedcitruscomplex
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Donn Beach’s Navy Grog—three rums, lime, grapefruit, honey, served over a cone of ice with a threaded straw
High Priest The Canon Rum

Navy Grog

Donn Beach’s three-rum tribute to British Navy tradition, and reportedly Frank Sinatra’s standing order. Served over a cone of ice…

citrustropicalspiced
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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
High Priest The Canon Rum

QB Cooler

Three rums—Jamaican, Puerto Rican, and demerara—with honey, ginger, citrus, and bitters. A complex layered build that rewards pati…

citrustropicalcomplex
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Trader Vic’s Scorpion in the shared bowl serve—rum, brandy, citrus, and orgeat with mint and gardenia
Practitioner The Canon Multi-Spirit

Scorpion

Trader Vic’s group drink—rum, brandy, citrus, and orgeat, scaled up into a bowl with multiple straws for sharing. The single-servi…

citrusnuttycomplex
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A Hotel Nacional Special—rum, pineapple, lime, and apricot brandy, the 1930s Havana hotel original
Initiate Revival Rum

Hotel Nacional Special

A pre-revolution Havana original codified during the modern revival. Aged rum, pineapple, apricot, lime—light, dry, sophisticated.…

tropicalfruitycitrus
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A Doctor Funk—rum, lime, grenadine, and Pernod, the 1880s Samoa original Donn Beach put on his Hollywood menu
Practitioner Revival Rum

Doctor Funk

Named for an actual Dr. Bernard Funk who served as Robert Louis Stevenson’s physician in Samoa in the 1880s. Donn Beach put it on …

citrustropicalcomplex
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Sailor’s Grog in a heavy double old-fashioned glass, amber-orange with mint and an orange slice, against the dark mask-lined Forbidden Altar bar
Practitioner House Original Rum

Sailor’s Grog

A grog-style build with 151 demerara, spiced rum, falernum, citrus, and ginger beer. The kind of drink you’d find at the end of a …

citrusspicedtropical
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Shark’s Tooth cocktail in a rocks glass over crushed ice, fading from red grenadine to gold, with a lime wedge, in the dark Forbidden Altar bar
Practitioner The Canon Rum

Shark’s Tooth

One of Donn Beach’s lesser-known canonical drinks, lost to most modern bar programs but documented by Jeff Berry. Dark Jamaican ru…

citrusfruitycomplex
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Singapore Sling in a hurricane glass—gin, cherry brandy, Cointreau, Bénédictine, pineapple, lime, and grenadine under a foam crown, with pineapple wedge and cherry on a pick
Practitioner Tiki-Adjacent Gin

Singapore Sling

Raffles Hotel, Singapore, 1915. Gin, cherry brandy, Cointreau, Bénédictine, pineapple, lime, and grenadine—colonial-era luxury coc…

tropicalfruitycomplex
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Blue Hawaii cocktail, vivid tropical blue in a tall highball glass over ice with a pineapple wedge, against the dark Forbidden Altar bar
Initiate The Canon Rum

Blue Hawaii

Not to be confused with the Blue Hawaiian (which contains cream of coconut). This 1957 original from bartender Harry Yee was inven…

tropicalfruitycitrus
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The Pusser’s Painkiller shown two ways—the canonical tall Collins glass on the left and the navy-blue Pusser’s ceramic mug on the right, both packed with crushed ice, dusted with fresh-grated nutmeg, and garnished with an orange wheel and a brandied cherry, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
Practitioner Late Era Rum

Pusser’s Painkiller

Born in the British Virgin Islands, perfected at the Soggy Dollar Bar—a beach bar you can only reach by swimming. Pusser’s rum, pi…

tropicalcoconutcitrus
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A Bahama Mama in a hurricane glass—rum, coconut, citrus, and grenadine over crushed ice
Initiate Late Era Rum

Bahama Mama

Bahamian beach-bar classic from the 1960s. Coconut rum, dark rum, coffee liqueur, 151, and pineapple. Looks innocent. Is not.

tropicalcoconutstrong
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A Goombay Smash—dark and coconut rums, pineapple and orange, the Bahamian classic
Initiate Late Era Rum

Goombay Smash

The Bahamian Painkiller. Coconut rum, dark rum, triple sec, pineapple, orange, and a touch of grenadine—a beach-bar build from Mis…

tropicalcoconutcitrus
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A Coconaut—Jeff Berry’s three-ingredient blended coconut drink served in a half-coconut shell, dark Jamaican rum, Coco López, and fresh lime
Initiate Revival Rum

Coconaut

Jeff Berry’s three-ingredient blended coconut drink—dark Jamaican rum, cream of coconut, fresh lime—batched to serve two to four o…

coconuttropicalcreamy
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A Lei Lani—dark rum, papaya, pineapple, orange, lime, grenadine, and soda over cubed ice in a tall highball with a fruit flag
Initiate Late Era Rum

Lei Lani

A mid-century Hawaiian rum cooler with a distinctive fingerprint—fresh papaya juice, where most tropical highballs of the era stop…

tropicalfruitycitrus
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A Lei Lani Volcano—coconut rum, guava nectar, pineapple, lime, and simple syrup over crushed ice in a tall glass, garnished with a lime wheel, banana slice, and a fresh orchid bloom
Initiate Late Era Rum

Lei Lani Volcano

The Disney Polynesian Village Resort’s 1970s classic, served at the Tambu Lounge. Coconut rum, guava nectar, pineapple, lime, and …

tropicalfruitycoconutsweet
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A Chi-Chi—vodka, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut blended over crushed ice in a tall glass, garnished with a pineapple wedge and a brandied cherry
Initiate Late Era vodka

Chi-Chi

The vodka Piña Colada. Vodka, pineapple, cream of coconut—a cleaner, less funky read on the cream-of-coconut family that rose with…

coconuttropicalsweet
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Saturn cocktail, pale yellow-gold in a coupe glass over crushed ice with a cherry and passion fruit half, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
Practitioner The Canon Gin

Saturn

One of the genre’s great gin entries. Gin, passion fruit, orgeat, falernum, and lemon. Light, floral, and deceptively sophisticate…

tropicalnuttyfloral
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Donn Beach’s Cobra’s Fang—dark Jamaican rum, 151 demerara, lime, orange, passion fruit, falernum, and a measured dash of Pernod
High Priest The Canon Rum

Cobra’s Fang

Pure Donn Beach: dark Jamaican rum and 151 demerara, falernum, passion fruit, Pernod, and Angostura. Spicy, layered, and built on …

citrustropicalcomplex
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The Pearl Diver shown two ways—the canonical tall glass on the left and the sculpted Tiki Farm pearl-diver mug on the right, both packed with crushed ice and a fresh white gardenia bloom on top, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
High Priest The Canon Rum

Pearl Diver

Built around Donn Beach’s ‘Pearl Diver Gardenia Mix’—butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice whisked into a tropical sauce …

spicedtropicalnutty
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Donn Beach’s Missionary’s Downfall—light rum, peach brandy, mint, pineapple, lime, and honey, flash-blended
Practitioner The Canon Multi-Spirit

Missionary’s Downfall

The herbal counterpoint in the Donn Beach catalog. Light rum, peach brandy, fresh mint, pineapple, lime, and honey—flash-blended i…

herbaltropicalfruity
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A Kingston Negroni—Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, Campari, and sweet vermouth in a chilled coupe
Initiate Revival Rum

Kingston Negroni

Joaquín Simó’s 2010 Death & Co riff that swaps Jamaican rum for gin in the classic Negroni. The funky-bitter collision is one of t…

bittertropicalcomplex
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Audrey Saunders’s Old Cuban—aged rum, lime, mint, bitters, sugar, topped with Champagne
Practitioner Revival Rum

Old Cuban

Audrey Saunders’s 2001 Pegu Club creation—a Mojito recast as a champagne cocktail. Aged rum, mint, lime, simple syrup, and Angostu…

citrusherbaltropical
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Suffering Bastard in a tall Collins glass, cloudy pale gold topped with ginger beer, a mint sprig and orange slice, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
Initiate Tiki-Adjacent Multi-Spirit

Suffering Bastard

Created in Cairo in 1942 as a hangover cure for soldiers. Gin, brandy, lime, bitters, and ginger beer. It works. The name was a di…

citrusspicedrefreshing
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Trader Vic’s El Diablo—tequila, crème de cassis, lime, and ginger beer in a tall glass
Initiate Tiki-Adjacent tequila

El Diablo

Trader Vic’s 1940s Mexican-cocktail entry: tequila, crème de cassis, fresh lime, ginger beer. Bracing and bramble-fruited, and pro…

spicedfruityrefreshing
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A Bermuda Rum Swizzle—Goslings rum, citrus, falernum, and Angostura spun cold with a swizzle stick, orange wheel and cherry on top
Initiate Tiki-Adjacent Rum

Bermuda Rum Swizzle

Bermuda’s unofficial national cocktail. Two rums (one dark, one gold), pineapple, orange, lime, falernum, and Angostura—swizzled h…

tropicalcitrusspiced
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A classic Mojito—white rum, fresh mint, lime, sugar, and soda over crushed ice
Initiate Tiki-Adjacent Rum

Mojito

Cuba’s national cocktail. White rum, fresh mint, lime, sugar, soda. Pre-tiki by centuries, lives on every exotic-cocktail menu by …

herbalcitrusrefreshing
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Coconut Mint Julep in a frosted pewter cup heaped with crushed ice, a dark rum float and a fresh mint bouquet, in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
Initiate House Original Rum

Coconut Mint Julep

A tropical reimagining of the Kentucky classic. Muddled mint, coconut rum, a touch of orgeat, and a dark rum float over crushed ic…

coconutherbaltropical
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Under the Boardwalk cocktail, pale yellow in a rocks glass over ice with an orange slice, against the dark mask-lined Forbidden Altar bar
Initiate House Original Rum

Under the Boardwalk

The simplest drink in this collection. Coconut rum, spiced rum, lime, and pineapple. Four ingredients, five minutes, total satisfa…

tropicalcoconutfruity
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Golden Emperor cocktail, warm golden-amber in a rocks glass over ice with a cinnamon stick, against the dark mask-lined Forbidden Altar bar
Initiate House Original Rum

Golden Emperor

Kraken black spiced rum, fresh ginger juice, pineapple, and lemon. Warm, spiced, slightly tropical. The kind of thing you make on …

spicedtropicalcitrus
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A’a’po’e cocktail in a carved dark ceramic tiki mug, deep reddish-amber with an orchid and mint garnish, lit by warm tungsten light in the dim Forbidden Altar bar
Practitioner House Original Multi-Spirit

A’a’po’e

Gin and dark rum together, with passion fruit syrup, grenadine, tiki spices, and soda. A hybrid build that refuses to choose a tra…

tropicalfruityfloral
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A classic Daiquiri—white rum, fresh lime, and sugar shaken hard and served up in a chilled coupe
Initiate Proto-Tiki Rum

Daiquiri

Rum, lime, sugar. Three ingredients, perfect proportions, and the foundation every exotic cocktail rests on. If you can’t make a g…

citrusrefreshing
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A Planter’s Punch—Jamaican rum, lime, sugar, water, garnished with grated nutmeg over crushed ice
Initiate Proto-Tiki Rum

Planter’s Punch

The Jamaican original. ‘One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak’—a 19th-century plantation formula that became th…

citrustropicalspiced
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A Bacardi Cocktail—Bacardi rum, lime, and grenadine in a chilled coupe, the 1920s Cuba original
Initiate Proto-Tiki Rum

Bacardi Cocktail

A Daiquiri with grenadine—and the only cocktail in American history that the courts have ruled must be made with a specific brand.…

citrusfruity
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A Mary Pickford—white rum, pineapple, grenadine, and maraschino, the silent-era Hollywood Cuban classic
Initiate Proto-Tiki Rum

Mary Pickford

A Prohibition-era Havana classic created for the silent film star during her Cuba honeymoon. White rum, pineapple, grenadine, mara…

tropicalfruity
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The Hemingway Daiquiri (Papa Doble)—white rum, fresh lime and grapefruit, maraschino, no sugar, served up
Initiate Proto-Tiki Rum

Hemingway Daiquiri

Constantino Ribalaigua’s variation built for Hemingway, who liked his Daiquiris drier, larger, and unsweetened. Grapefruit and mar…

citrusfruity
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A Pisco Punch—pisco, pineapple gum syrup, lemon, the 1890s San Francisco Bank Exchange classic
Practitioner Tiki-Adjacent pisco

Pisco Punch

San Francisco’s signature 19th-century cocktail and once the most-ordered drink in America. Peruvian pisco, fresh pineapple, lime,…

fruitytropicalrefreshing
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Volcano Bowl cocktail in a ceramic tiki vessel with flaming center well, multi-rum punch surrounding it, four long straws, the Forbidden Altar bar in shadow behind
High Priest The Canon Rum

Volcano Bowl

A flaming multi-rum punch for the table. Donn Beach’s contribution to ceremonial drinking—a ceramic volcano bowl with a center wel…

tropicalstrongtheatrical
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