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The 9 Best Coconut Cocktails That Bring Instant Tropicality to Your Tastebuds

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Junoon Coconut Cocktail, coconut cocktails
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Junoon Coconut Cocktail in a wine glass.

Nothing beats coconut when it comes to bringing instant freshness and tropicality. It can send a deftly made cocktail on a warm jetstream headed somewhere breezy and much closer to the equator. Even the fruit’s lifestyle is enviable, shaded by palm fronds in a warm locale, often close to a beach. The most intrepid drinkers source them whole, draining the fresh juice or using the spherical nut as a vessel.

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What sets coconut apart from many ingredients is its many forms and how they all do so well in a cocktail. Simple coconut water is a great option. Using coconut-flavored sodas, liqueurs, and spirits or even making your own house coconut cream for mixing is fine as well. Even better, you can integrate your own spirits and create refreshing twists on classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned.

In terms of cocktails, check out nine fantastic coconut-driven recipes below along with a quick tutorial from Death & Co. on infusing scotch. We’ve got everything from a Puerto Rican classic (Coquito) to a Blue Hawaiian. Go nuts!

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Piña Colada

Two coconut drinks by the pool.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

(Created by Death & Co.)

Ingredients:

  • 3 dashes Kalani Ron de Coco coconut liqueur
  • 1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
  • .5 oz El Dorado 151 Rum
  • .5 oz El Dorado 3-Year Rum
  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • .5 oz lime juice
  • .75 oz Coco Lopez
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Method:

  1. Short shake all ingredients with 3 ice cubes.
  2. Strain into a coconut mug filled with crushed ice.
  3. Garnish with a mint bouquet.
  4. Serve with a straw.

A Passion for Tequila

A Passion for Tequila Cocktail in glasses and a bottle of Don Julio by the side.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

(Created by Yolanda Baez, NYC)

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco
  • 1 oz fresh passionfruit juice
  • .75 oz fresh lime juice
  • .75 oz agave nectar
  • coconut water to top

Method:

  1. Combine tequila, fresh lime juice, fresh passionfruit juice, and agave nectar into a cocktail shaker over ice.
  2. Shake well and strain contents into a Collins glass over fresh ice and top with coconut water.
  3. Garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel.

Cilantrita

Leafy Greens cocktail in a glass garnished with cilantro.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz 1800 Coconut
  • 1 oz lemon
  • .75 oz ginger syrup (or 2 slices of ginger muddled in simple syrup)
  • Small handful of cilantro

Method:

  1. Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.
  2. Strain into a glass.
  3. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

Coco Horchata Colada

Coco Horchata Colada Cocktail surrounded by limes, a pineapple, and a coconut.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz DeLeón Reposado Tequila
  • 1 oz coconut cream
  • 2 oz horchata
  • .5 oz fresh lime juice
  • .5 oz pineapple syrup
  • 3 dashes Mexican molé bitters

Method:

  1. Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
  2. Strain into an ice-filled margarita glass.
  3. Garnish with pineapple slices and leaves, cinnamon sticks, and dried lime.

Coquito

Four Coquito Cocktails in plastic cups.
Discover Puerto Rico

Ingredients:

  • .5 cup white rum (preferably Don Q or Bacardí)
  • 1 can condensed milk
  • 1 can evaporated milk
  • 1 can cream of coconut (Coco López suggested)  
  • .5 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (add more to taste)

Method:

  1. In a blender, add evaporated milk, cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, rum, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
  2. Blend on high for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture is well combined.
  3. Transfer mixture into glass bottle and chill in the refrigerator until cold.
  4. To serve, pour coquito into small serving glasses (almost like a shot portion)
  5. Garnish with ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.

Blue Hawaiian

Blue Hawaiians garnished with a cherry and a slice of pineapple on top.
Bhofack2/Getty Images / Getty

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz white rum
  • .5 oz of Blue Curacao
  • 3 oz of pineapple juice
  • 1 oz of 7up or Sprite
  • Chunk of pineapple for garnish
  • .5 cup ice

Method:

  1. Fill a tall glass with ice.
  2. Add your rum to the glass.
  3. Add the pineapple and 7up to fill the glass.
  4. Measure out .5 oz of Blue Curacao and float the blue liqueur on top.
  5. Garnish with the pineapple chunk.

Brancolada

Brancolada Cocktail in a glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

(Created by Jeremy Oertel, Donna, NYC)

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz Appleton V/X Rum
  • 1 oz Branca Menta
  • 1.5 oz pineapple juice
  • .25 oz fresh orange juice
  • .75 oz coconut cream*

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes.
  2. Shake until chilled and strain over crushed ice in a glass.
  3. Garnish with mint sprig and orange wedge.

With Coconut Cream

  1. Combine 3 parts Coco Lopez with 1 part coconut milk.

Yolanda

Vesper Cocktail served in a martini glass.
Cocktailmarler / Wikimedia Commons

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz blanc vermouth
  • .75 oz coconut gin (preferably Bimini)
  • .75 oz pisco
  • 1 barspoon rose and apple infused Pineaus de Charentes
  • 1 drop absinthe

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients, including ice, in a mixing glass and stir until chilled.
  2. Strain into a chilled glass.
  3. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Citrus and Coconut

Pear Brandy Collins in a glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 oz coconut vodka
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 4 oz coconut water

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients except coconut water in a shaker and shake well.
  2. Pour into Collins glass and top with coconut water.
  3. Garnish with lemon or lime slices.
Mark Stock
Mark Stock
Contributor
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
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