Tropical & Luau Drink Ideas

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Tropical & Hawaiian Luau Party Cocktail Ideas

Rum & fruity drinks are the natural choice for your tropical themed or Hawaiian Luau party. Rum is relatively inexpensive, but plan to prepare your elaborate recipes beforehand. We have compiled some great options including:

Pre-made signature drinks
Pre-made mixes for bar service
Simple to make tropical drinks for bar service
Tropical martinis
Jell-o shooters
Tropical virgin options
Garnishes

The type of cocktails you serve will depend on the type and size of your party.

For cocktail parties: We recommend a pre-mixed signature drink to:

Ensure everyone's drink tastes fabulous
Control costs
Reduce time mixing cocktails

For dinner parties: We recommend martinis to:

Relax the crowd quickly and facilitate conversation and laughter during dinner
Mix in batches and reduce the time mixing cocktails
Add style and panache

For bar service: We recommend keeping it simple by:

Offering drinks with 1 to 4 ingredients
Preparing mixes beforehand, for more complicated cocktails
Not serving frozen drinks

Regardless of the type of drink you serve, rename the drink for your guest of honor, in the spirit of your theme, your group of guests, or a current event.

Signature Drinks

When choosing a signature drink, to mix in large batches the day before the party, look for the following:

A drink that will appeal to most tastes
No carbonated mixers, look for juices

A designated drink is also an excellent way to control costs. Not only is rum the cheapest liquor, it mixes very well with juices and makes a number of cocktails with universal appeal.

Remember: Only put ice in cocktail glasses, this means never put ice in pre-mixed batches. If you have room, put your signature drink mixture in the freezer, but don't forget to defrost before the party.

For all batch mixed drinks, first mix a single serving cocktail in the same proportions, then make adjustments to suit your personal taste. This will also give you a reference point for the final mixture.

Goombay Smash

1 oz
1 oz
1 oz
3 oz
1/4 oz
1/2 oz
3 dashes

light rum
gold rum
coconut rum
pineapple juice
lime juice
simple syrup
Angostura bitters

4 parts
4 parts
4 parts
12 parts
1 part
2 parts
By serving

Mix all ingredients, except bitters, and adjust for taste,
primarily for the balance of sweet (simple syrup) and sour (lime juice).
To serve: Pour into a stemmed or highball glass over ice.
Stir, then sprinkle with dashes of bitters on top.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry on a toothpick and cocktail umbrella.

Sebastian's Mama

1/2 oz
1/2 oz
1/2 oz
1/2 oz
1 1/2 oz
1 1/2 oz

Light rum
Coconut rum
Creme de banana
Grenadine syrup
Orange juice
Pineapple juice

1 part
1 part
1 part
1 part
3 parts
3 parts

Mix all ingredients in batches using the parts measurement.
Serve over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge or orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick and add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Variations:
Substitue Triple Sec (orange) for Creme de banana.
Substitute Chambord or Razzmatazz (raspberry) for Creme de banana and grenadine.

Californian Hurricane

1 oz
1 oz
1/2 oz
2 oz
3 oz
3 dashes

Dark rum
Light rum
Triple sec
Pineapple juice
Orange juice
Grenadine syrup

2 parts
2 parts
1 part
4 parts
6 parts
As needed

Mix all ingredients in batches using the parts measurement.
Note: Use just enough grenadine to turn the mixture red.
Serve over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge or orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick and add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Bompi's Punch

1 oz
1 oz
1/2 oz
1 1/2 oz
1 1/2 oz
1/2 oz
4 dashes

Light rum
Dark rum
Cointreau
Orange juice
Pineapple juice
Lime juice
Grenadine

1 part
1 part
1 part
1 part
3 parts
3 parts
As needed

Guy's Blue Hawaiian

1 1/2 oz
1 oz
2 oz
1 oz

Light rum
Blue Curacao
Pineapple juice
Cream of coconut

4 parts
2 parts
6 parts
3 parts

Mix all ingredients in batches using the parts measurement.
Note that proportions are different when mixing larger quantities.
Shake and serve over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge or orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick and add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Mixes For Bar Service

Simplify serving complex tropical cocktails during the party by making these bar mixes ahead of time:

Pina Colada Mix

Mix about 1 cup of Coco Lopez cream of coconut for every 2 cups of pineapple juice.
Adjust for your personal taste.
Add Midori for a Melon Colada.

Pina Colada Cocktail

1 1/2 oz
4 oz

Light rum
Pina Colada mix

Mix ingredients and serve over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a skewered pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry.
Add a cocktail umbrella decoration.

Rum Punch Mix

Mix 2 parts orange juice, 2 parts pineapple juice, 1 part sweet & sour lime mix.
Adjust for personal taste.
Add grenadine to color red.

Rum Punch Cocktail

1 oz
1 oz
1 oz
3 oz
2 dashes

Dark rum
Gold rum
Light rum
Rum punch mix
Angostura bitters

Mix ingredients and serve over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a skewered pineapple wedge or orange and maraschino cherry.
Add a cocktail umbrella decoration.

Note: You may optionally use only gold rum for a tasty cocktail that is much faster to prepare.

Simple Syrup

Mix equal parts of sugar and water.
It is easiest to make by heating the water to dissolve the sugar.
Let it cool before using.

Sweet & Sour Mix

Also known as Sour Mix, this is typically a mixture of equal parts lemon juice and simple syrup.
However we recommend Lime Sweet & Sour Mix for rum punch,
made with lime juice instead of lemon juice.

Lime sweet & sour mix is also used for making margaritas.

Mixed Drink Recipes

Blue Hawaiian
There are many versions of the Blue Hawaiian cocktail, most vary in the proportions of ingredients and some use vodka, however there are 2 basic recipes.
The first is listed above in Signature Drinks and uses cream of coconut. The second is below and uses sour mix.

1 oz
1/2 oz
3 oz
1 oz

Light rum
Blue curacao
Pineapple juice
Sour mix

Shake and pour over ice in a stemmed or highball glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge or orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick.
Add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Blue Hawaiian Screw

1 oz
1/2 oz
4 oz

Vodka
Blue curacao
Pineapple juice

Shake and pour over ice in a stemmed or double-old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge or orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick.
Add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Hawaiian Sea Breeze

1 1/2 oz
1 splash
4 1/2 oz

Vodka
Cranberry juice
Pineapple juice

Mix and pour over ice in a stemmed or double-old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry on a toothpick.
Add a cocktail umbrella for decoration.

Tiki Guava

1 1/2 oz
4 1/2 oz
2 dashes

Gold rum
Ocean Spray guava drink
Grenadine syrup

Mix and pour over ice in a stemmed or double-old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry on a cocktail umbrella.

Martinis

Tropical Martini

1 part
1 part

Amaretto almond liqueur
Coconut rum

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker or martini pitcher and shake or stir.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry on a toothpick.

Caribbean Martini

2 parts
1 part

Vanilla vodka
Coconut rum

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker or martini pitcher and shake or stir.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge on a toothpick.

Coral Reef Blue Moon Martini

12 parts
3 parts
2 parts
1 dash

Vodka
Cointreau
Blue curacao
Dry vermouth

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker or martini pitcher and shake or stir.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with an orange or lemon twist.

Jell-O Shooters

Passing trays of Jell-o shooters make a fun party happening to keep the crowd entertained. They are also a great way to present candles during a birthday party. There are plenty of fruit flavors and bright colors to suit your Hawaiian Luau theme, such as:

Pineapple
Pina Colada
Berry Blue
Strawberry Kiwi
Orange

To prepare: Follow the directions for one package of Jell-o, with these modifications:

Double the number of Jell-o packages used
Substitute half of the water added with an equal amount of vodka
Pour into your selected method for serving before refrigerating

Plastic cups: Buy small plastic cups and pour individual shots into each and refrigerate to set.

Square blocks: Pour liquid gelatin into an appropriate-sized pan to a depth of about one inch. Refrigerate overnight. Cut gelatin into one-inch square blocks.

Fruit slices: Cut oranges, lemons, and/or limes in half and hollow out pulp leaving the rind shell. Fill each fruit-rind-half to the top and refrigerate overnight. Cut each fruit-rind-half into wedges. For oranges 3 wedges per half; for lemons and limes 2 wedges per half.

Tropical Virgin Drinks

Tiki Guava

Guava juice
Splash of club soda
Grenadine to color red

Orange Pineapple

1/2 Orange juice
1/2 Pineapple juice
Grenadine to color red

Garnishes

Your drink garnishes are a major component for a complete tropical cocktail. Cut and assemble your garnishes before your guests arrive. Tropical garnishes include:

Pineapple slice wedge with rind & maraschino cherry
Orange slice wedge & maraschino cherry
Starfruit slice & maraschino cherry

Alternative: Use a strawberry instead of a maraschino cherry.

Cut a small slit in the bottom of the larger fruit to hang on the lip of the glass. Skewer the fruit together with a toothpick or drink parasol/umbrella.

In addition, you should prepare your drink umbrellas beforehand, they can be a little tricky.

Opening drink parasols/umbrellas: Remove the round plastic piece on the outside of the parasol. Gently separate and pull the parasol ribs out slightly. Store until ready to serve.

To open, push the small round plastic piece around the shaft/toothpick of the parasol up.