Nautical Drink Ideas




Nautical & Sailing Party Cocktail Ideas & Recipes

In addition to a number of nautical and ocean-themed drinks, you can create blue drinks to represent water, pairs of drinks in red & green to correspond to port & starboard, or use Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum or Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum. We have compiled some cocktail suggestions below including:
For cocktail parties: We recommend a pre-mixed signature drink to:
- Pre-made Signature Drinks
- Mixed Drinks For Bar Service
- Martinis & Up Drinks
- South Seas Shimmy Jell-O Shot
- Virgin Wavebender Recipe
For cocktail parties: We recommend a pre-mixed signature drink to:
- Ensure everyone's drink tastes fabulous
- Control costs
- Reduce time mixing cocktails
- Relax the crowd quickly and facilitate conversation and laughter during dinner
- Mix in batches and reduce the time mixing cocktails
- Add style and panache
- Offering drinks with 1 to 4 ingredients
- Preparing mixes beforehand, for more complicated cocktails
- Not serving frozen drinks

When choosing a signature drink, to mix in large batches the day before the party, look for the following:
In addition to the drinks below, some of the maritime classics listed in "Mixed Drinks" make tasty signature drinks, such as:
- A drink that will appeal to most tastes
- No carbonated mixers, look for juices
In addition to the drinks below, some of the maritime classics listed in "Mixed Drinks" make tasty signature drinks, such as:
- Sea Breeze
- Salty Dog
- Cape Cod
Parts vs Ounces
Parts are used for mixing batches, while ounces (oz) in parentheses indicate single-serving measurements.
- Parts are relative measurements, meaning the actual volume depends on how much you want to make.
- Example: 2 parts vodka, 1 part lemon juice can be mixed as 2 oz vodka, 1 oz lemon juice for a small batch or 2 cups vodka, 1 cup lemon juice for a larger batch.
- Parts can be any unit of liquid measure, such as ounces, cups, liters, or gallons—just keep all ingredients in the same unit.
- Ounces in parentheses (oz) show exactly how much to use per drink or serving.
- Example: Vodka (2 oz), Lemon Juice (1 oz) means each drink gets 2 oz of vodka and 1 oz of lemon juice.
- "By serving" means the ingredient is added per drink, not mixed into the batch.
- Example: Club soda (By serving) means you add club soda to each drink individually, not in the mix.
Tidal Wave
1 part Gin
1 part Light rum
1 part Vodka
1 part Peach schnapps
4 parts Orange juice
4 parts Pineapple juice
1 dash Grenadine syrup
1 part Light rum
1 part Vodka
1 part Peach schnapps
4 parts Orange juice
4 parts Pineapple juice
1 dash Grenadine syrup
Mix all ingredients and adjust for taste.
Serve in a highball glass or double old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with a skewered orange or pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry.

Cabin Cooler
1 part Raspberry vodka
1 part Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
2 parts Cranberry juice
1 part Ginger ale
1 part Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
2 parts Cranberry juice
1 part Ginger ale
Combine the vodka, rum, and cranberry juice the day before the party as your drink base.
To serve: mix 4 parts base with 1 part ginger ale in a double-old-fashioned glass or a pitcher before serving.
Stir and garnish with a lime slice.

Sea Breeze
1-1/2 oz Vodka
3 oz Cranberry juice
1-1/2 oz Grapefruit juice
3 oz Cranberry juice
1-1/2 oz Grapefruit juice
Combine ingredients in a highball or double-old-fashioned glass and stir.
Garnish with a lime slice.

Ocean Breeze
A variation of the Sea Breeze to surprise your guests.
1-1/2 oz Raspberry Vodka
1-1/2 oz Coconut Rum
3 oz Cranberry juice
1-1/2 oz Pineapple juice
1-1/2 oz Coconut Rum
3 oz Cranberry juice
1-1/2 oz Pineapple juice
Combine ingredients in a highball or double-old-fashioned glass and stir.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry on a toothpick.

Salty Dog
Vodka is recommended for a wider appeal.
1-1/2 oz Gin or vodka
4 oz Grapefruit juice
4 oz Grapefruit juice
Combine the ingredients in highball or double-old-fashioned glass with a salted rim.
Garnish with a lime slice.
To Rim the Glass:
1. Moisten the rim of a your cocktail glass with a lime wedge.
2. Fill a saucer or bowl with sea salt or kosher salt.
3. Roll the outside rim of the glass in the salt to cover.
4. Shake off excess.
Variation:
Use Ruby Red grapefruit juice for a more original Salty Dog variation.

Cape Cod
1-1/2 oz Vodka
4 oz Cranberry juice
4 oz Cranberry juice
Combine ingredients in a highball or double-old-fashioned glass and stir.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Variation:
Use watermelon vodka for an interesting twist.

Sex With The Captain
1-1/2 oz Captain Morgan's Spice Rum
1 oz Almond liqueur
1 oz Peach Schnapps
2 oz Cranberry juice
2 oz Orange juice
1 oz Almond liqueur
1 oz Peach Schnapps
2 oz Cranberry juice
2 oz Orange juice
Combine ingredients with ice in a highball or double-old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry on a toothpick.

Captain's Son
2 oz Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
5 oz Ginger ale
5 oz Ginger ale
Combine ingredients in a double old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

Lifesaver
1 oz Light rum
1 oz Midori melon liqueur
3 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Midori melon liqueur
3 oz Pineapple juice
Combine ingredients with ice in a double-old-fashioned glass.

Painkiller
2 oz Dark rum
1 oz Coconut rum
3 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Orange juice
Dash of Nutmeg
1 oz Coconut rum
3 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Orange juice
Dash of Nutmeg
Combine rum, coconut rum, pineapple juice, and orange juice in a shaker half-filled with ice.
Shake and pour into a highball or double-old-fashioned glass.
Sprinkle a dash of nutmeg on top.

Maritime Martini
6 parts Gin
1 part Dry vermouth
1 Anchovy-stuffed olive
1 part Dry vermouth
1 Anchovy-stuffed olive
Combine gin & vermouth in an ice-filled martini pitcher and stir for 30 seconds.
Strain into a martini glass.&
Garnish with an anchovy-stuffed olive.

Coral Reef Blue Moon Martini
3 oz Vodka
3/4 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
Dash Dry vermouth
3/4 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
Dash Dry vermouth
Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake well.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

Portside & Starboard Martinis
Melon Martinis...1 red (portside) served to the left, 1 green (starboard) served to the right.
Portside:
4 oz Citrus vodka
2 oz Watermelon schnapps
2 oz Watermelon schnapps
Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake well.
Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a watermelon wedge.
Starboard:
4 oz Citrus vodka
2 oz Midori melon liqueur
2 oz Midori melon liqueur
Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake well.
Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a star fruit slice.

Passing trays of Jell-o shooters make a fun party event to keep the crowd entertained.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz boiling water
- 8 oz cold water
- 3 oz package of Berry Blue gelatin
- 3 oz package of lime gelatin
- 8 oz rum or vodka
- 4 oz blue curacao
- 4 oz Midori melon liqueur
- 40 gummy fish (optional)
To prepare:
- Pour the gelatin in a heat-proof bowl and add the boiling water, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved.
- Add the cold water, let cool completely.
- Stir in the rum or vodka, blue curacao, and Midori until well combined. Note: The alcohol will evaporate, if you add it before the gelatin has cooled.
- Pour the mixture into plastic 2 oz cups.
- Chill until slightly set, about 15 minutes.
- Use a skewer or chopstick to push a gummy fish into the center of each shooter (optional).
- Chill until firm, 4-6 hours.
Variation: Pour liquid gelatin into an appropriate-sized pan to a depth of about 1 to 1-1/2 inch. Refrigerate overnight. Cut gelatin into one-inch square blocks.

Wavebender
1 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz Lemon juice
5 oz Ginger ale
Dash Grenadine syrup
1/2 oz Lemon juice
5 oz Ginger ale
Dash Grenadine syrup
Combine ingredients in a highball or double-old-fashioned glass with ice and stir.
Garnish with an orange slice or lemon twist.