Pina Colada is the famous one. Fifteen others deserve your blender too.
Coconut cocktails get treated as a single category called Pina Colada. They are not. There is a creamy tiki camp (Pina Colada, Painkiller, Coquito), a stirred camp (Coconut Old Fashioned, Coconut Negroni), and a fresh-citrus-and-coconut camp (Coconut Margarita, Coconut Daiquiri).
What unites them is coconut cream or coconut water doing the richness work that simple syrup does in other drinks. Buy the best coconut cream you can find, Coco Lopez and Coco Reaal are the bartender standards. Drinking coconut water is different from canned coconut milk; both have a place.
These are the sixteen worth pouring this summer.
The recipes
Cocktail
The Pina Colada
The Pina Colada got ruined by resort bars. Somewhere between 1987 and last Tuesday we decided it was a tacky drink made from a bottle of sickly yellow…
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Cocktail
The Painkiller
Pina Colada’s bigger, boozier cousin from the British Virgin Islands. Why you are pouring this tonight Pina Colada’s bigger, boozier cousin from the British Virgin Islands. Dark rum…
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Cocktail
The Chi Chi
A Pina Colada with vodka instead of rum. Why you are pouring this tonight A Pina Colada with vodka instead of rum. Lighter, cleaner, more obviously a summer-by-the-pool…
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Cocktail
The Spicy Colada
Muddle a jalapeño slice with the pineapple; the heat cuts through the coconut sweetness and lifts the drink from beach-holiday sweet to something more interesting. Why you are…
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Cocktail
Coconut Margarita
Coconut Margarita lives at the intersection of Margarita and Pina Colada. Why you are pouring this tonight Coconut Margarita lives at the intersection of Margarita and Pina Colada.…
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Cocktail
Coconut Daiquiri
The Daiquiri's tropical sister. Why you are pouring this tonight The Daiquiri's tropical sister. Same template (rum, lime, sweet) with coconut cream replacing simple syrup. What to pour…
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Cocktail
Coconut Mojito
A Mojito with coconut cream replacing the simple syrup. Why you are pouring this tonight This is what happens when a Mojito and a Pina Colada meet at…
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Cocktail
Coconut Old Fashioned
The stirred coconut drink. Why you are pouring this tonight The stirred coconut drink. Aged rum, coconut cream as the sweetener, bitters, orange peel. Tastes like a sunset.…
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Cocktail
Coconut Negroni
A Negroni infused with coconut. Why you are pouring this tonight A Negroni infused with coconut. Equal parts gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, with a wash of coconut oil…
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Cocktail
Coquito
Puerto Rico's Christmas drink. Why you are pouring this tonight Puerto Rico's Christmas drink. Like eggnog but better. Coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, white rum, cinnamon.…
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Cocktail
Bahama Mama
The 1960s tiki revival drink. Why you are pouring this tonight The 1960s tiki revival drink. Two rums, coconut, pineapple, lime, grenadine. Cheerful as it sounds. What to…
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Cocktail
Miami Vice
Half Pina Colada, half Strawberry Daiquiri, swirled together. Why you are pouring this tonight Half Pina Colada, half Strawberry Daiquiri, swirled together. The cocktail equivalent of a 1980s…
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Cocktail
Coconut Espresso Martini
The Espresso Martini, but with coconut cream replacing some of the sweetness. Why you are pouring this tonight The Espresso Martini, but with coconut cream replacing some of…
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Cocktail
Coconut Mai Tai
A Mai Tai with coconut cream replacing some of the orgeat. Why you are pouring this tonight A Mai Tai with coconut cream replacing some of the orgeat.…
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Cocktail
Tropical Storm
Three rums, three tropical juices, one glass. Why you are pouring this tonight Tropical Storm is the cocktail you make when someone has accused you of being too…
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Cocktail
Coconut French 75
The classic French 75 (gin, lemon, champagne, sugar) with a hint of coconut cream. Why you are pouring this tonight The classic French 75 (gin, lemon, champagne, sugar)…
Read the recipe →If you like creamy tropical drinks, also see our Mai Tai, a related school but without the coconut cream.