Best 5 Caribbean style cocktails to enjoy this summer

With the summer months almost upon us, most of us have already started planning our summer getaways featuring beaches, sun and plenty of fun. That being said, is there anything better than laying pool-side or at the beach on a sunny summer day? Why yes there is! Laying pool-side or at the beach on a sunny summer day – with a delicious fruity, Caribbean style cocktail

Caribbean cocktails are famous for incorporating sweet tropical flavors that are both tasty and immensely refreshing. Using mostly rum as a basis, these drinks are the absolute perfect companion to a day relaxation and recreation in the sun.

Let’s check out the top 5 Caribbean cocktails that you can order or make by yourself that will turn any summer day into something really special.

Voodoo

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One of the lesser known Caribbean cocktails, the Voodoo is a fantastic treat for the palate, creating a perfect marriage of aged rum, apple juice and lime. The Voodoo manages to be sweet – but not too sweet – and is surprisingly refreshing. While it is usually is served with a cinnamon cane as garnish, if you want to add some extra Voodoo to it, you can also set it alight and sprinkle some cinnamon powder on it instead – creating amazing fireballs in the process. Be careful though! You don’t want to lose those eyebrows.

Ingredients

  • 2 Parts Aged Rum of Haitian Type
  • ¾ Part Sweet vermouth
  • 2 Parts Apple Juice, Fresh Pressed
  • ½ Part Lime Juice
  • ¼ Part Simple Syrup
  • 1 Twig Cinnamon Cane

How to prepare

Top a shaker with ice cubes, add all ingredients, and shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Add a cinnamon cane as garnish.

Bahama Mama

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According to legend, the Bahama Mama was born in the Bahamas during the islands height as a bootlegging base smuggling rum to the United States during the Prohibition Era. While this has not been able to be fully proven, what is an irrefutable fact is that it is one of the tastiest tropical cocktails you will ever try.

Combining different types of rum with coffee and coconut liqueurs and pineapple juice, the Bahama Mama has a very unique fruity flavor that it’s hard ever get enough of. Word to the wise: Be careful when making the Bahama Mama your designated drink for the day! The Mama’s strong flavors manage to conceal the fact that it’s absolutely loaded with alcohol, making it very easy to get very tipsy very fast!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz dark rum
  • 1/4 oz coffee liqueur
  • 1/2 oz coconut liqueur
  • 1/4 oz 151 proof rum
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 4 oz pineapple juice
  • ⅓ Part Grenadine
  • 1 Slice Orange

How to prepare

Top a shaker with ice cubes, add all ingredients, and shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Add an orange wedge as garnish.

Piña Colada

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You don’t have to like getting caught in the rain (anyone?) to absolutely love this immensely popular Caribbean staple. Creamy and sweet with a hint of sour and ever refreshing, Piña Coladas combine with rum to perfection making for a breezy summer drink that is hard to resist.

Ingredients

  • 2 Parts Light Rum
  • 4 Parts Pineapple Juice
  • 1 Part Coconut Cream
  • 1 Wedge Pineapple
  • 1 Whole Maraschino Berry

How to prepare

Fill a wine glass with crushed ice, add all the ingredients and stir. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino berry.

Planter’s Punch

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The punch to rule all punches, Planter’s Punch originated in the rum producing island of Jamaica and has remained the de facto Caribbean punch ever since, extending its reach to the USA during the Prohibition.

Its delicious recipe has varied throughout the ages, however it has always been told in verses, the most popular of which is the condensed: “One of sour / One of sweet / Two of strong / And one of weak.”

Ingredients

  • 2 Parts Dark Rum of Jamaican Type
  • ⅓ Part Lime Juice
  • ⅓ Part Lemon Juice
  • ⅓ Part Grenadine
  • 1 Wedge Lime

How to prepare

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes, add all ingredients above, and shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Add a lime wedge as garnish.

Mojito

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Cuba’s signature drink, the Mojito is reported to have come into existence in 16th century Havana when famous explorer Francis Drake and his crew first created this refreshing highball drink featuring rum, lime juice and crushed mint leaves. If for some reason that doesn’t already make you want to fix yourself one right now, then perhaps the fact that Mojitos were Ernest Hemingway’s favorite drink when he lived in Cuba will do the trick. After all, if there’s someone you should trust on all matters regarding drinks, it’s Hemingway.

Ingredients

  • 8 Whole Mint Leaf
  • ⅔ Part Simple Syrup
  • 1 ⅔ Parts Light Rum
  • 1 Part Lime Juice
  • Soda Water
  • 1 Sprig Mint Leaf

How to prepare

Crush mint leaves and simple syrup in a highball glass, and fill with crushed ice. Add light rum and lime juice and stir, before topping up with soda water.