No fruit can dredge up memories of summer quite like a coconut can with its uniquely sweet, tropical, and slightly nutty flavor profile. The coconut is also extremely versatile — it can be used whole, be made into milk or water, or dissolved into simple syrup — making it a perfect ingredient for bartenders to tinker with in order to create summery riffs on classic cocktails as well as specialty concoctions. With the July heat upon us, here are 16 delicious coconut cocktails to sip throughout the remainder of the season and beyond.
Gin-Based Coconut Cocktails
Groovy Gimlet
The Gimlet is one of the most popular gin cocktails on Earth, and this riff on the classic cocktail offers a tropical twist with a magnificent purple hue. The Groovy Gimlet swaps out traditional simple syrup for toasted coconut syrup, and uses violet-colored butterfly pea tea-infused gin in place of clear gin for a vibrant shade that practically begs you to take a sip.
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Liqueur-Based Coconut Cocktails
Viking Colada
The Viking Colada is a riff on the resort staple Piña Colada, subbing out the rum used in the classic cocktail for aquavit, a traditional Nordic spirit. Hailing from the same region as the Vikings, aquavit is a neutral grain spirit flavored with botanicals such as caraway, star anise, and coriander. Combine the spirit with fresh lime juice, crème of coconut, and root beer syrup for a Nordic retreat.
Rum-Based Coconut Cocktails
Piña Colada
The Piña Colada is perhaps the world’s best-known coconut cocktail, and many people likely enjoyed them in their “virgin” form before they came of drinking age. As adults, there is perhaps no combination of ingredients better at beating the heat than the cocktail’s white rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice. If you’re looking for a refreshing cocktail to sip poolside all summer long, the Piña Colada is for you.
Coconut Airman
The Coconut Airman is a riff on classic tiki cocktail the Test Pilot, adding tropical fruit flavors like coconut and grapefruit for a balanced cocktail ideal for beating the summer heat. To make a Coconut Airman, combine white rum, triple sec, gomme syrup, coconut milk, grapefruit juice, and two dashes of tiki bitters.
Toasted Coconut Sour
While coconut is a flavor traditionally associated with summer, the season unfortunately cannot last forever. The Coconut Sour combines pomegranate juice, a traditionally winter-ripe fruit, with white rum, lemon juice, toasted coconut syrup, and one egg white for a cocktail offering the perfect opportunity to return to a summer mindset when those winter blues take over.
The Amaro di Cocco
Many people love tiki drinks but find fault in the too-sweet, over-sugared cocktail combinations that can detract from the true flavors of the drink. The Amaro di Cocco, a cross between the Negroni and the Piña Colada, offers a perfect alternative to sweeter cocktail options. This cocktail combines Jamaican rum, black rum, Campari, sweet vermouth, pineapple juice, and coconut cream for a balanced and tasty concoction.
Coquito
For many Americans, summer temperatures have long since passed by the time the holidays roll around in December — hot, sticky weather replaced with chill temperatures and brisk winds. For Puerto Ricans, the December holidays remain warm and offer the perfect opportunity to enjoy a Coquito, which is essentially a coconut-based, rum-spiked riff on eggnog. This cocktail combines silver rum, cream of coconut, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and nutmeg for a delicious, tropical, holiday treat.
The Blue Skies Ahead
As the name would suggest, the Blue Skies Ahead carries a vibrant, electric blue color reminiscent of the sky after a summer storm. This coconut cocktail is a combination of pineapple rum, pineapple juice, lemon juice, lime juice, blue Curaçao, and toasted coconut syrup served in a hurricane or other high, stemmed glass. If you really want to encapsulate the essence of the Blue Skies Ahead, garnish your cocktail with a paper umbrella and pineapple fronds for extra flare.
The Mandarin Tiki Dream
The Mandarin Tiki Dream serves as the perfect collision of Polynesian and Southeast Asian flavors with popular tiki ingredients. A combination of white rum, ginger liqueur, lime juice, mandarin juice, simple syrup, and coconut milk, the Mandarin Tiki Dream is a perfectly balanced blend of flavors that create a delicious and bright cocktail.
Colada Sunrise
The Colada Sunrise may capture the same effervescent color gradient as the Tequila Sunrise, but the cocktail actually riffs off the traditional Piña Colada. A combination of white rum, coconut cream, mango juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine, the Colada Sunrise can serve as the perfect mental escape to the tropics when an actual vacation isn’t in the cards.
Coco-Raspberry Colada
This coconut cocktail riffs on the Miami Vice, a cross between the Strawberry Daiquiri and Piña Colada. The Coco-Raspberry Colada combines rum, lime juice, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and raspberries for a fruity and delicious twist on the classic frozen cocktail. Furthermore, the beautiful color blocking effect makes it great for serving at any summer party.
Hibiscus Colada
The Hibiscus Colada offers a lighter, more herbal take on the classic Piña Colada by subbing out heavy coconut cream for lighter coconut yogurt and adding hibiscus syrup for slight floral essences. To make this Piña Colada riff, combine rum, lime juice, hibiscus simple syrup, pineapple juice, coconut yogurt, and a few dashes of cocktail bitters. Shake, serve in a glass over crushed ice, and garnish with a lime wheel.
Tequila-Based Coconut Cocktails
Coconut Margarita
The classic Margarita is refreshing on its own, but the addition of grapefruit juice and coconut milk instantly make this Margarita riff a tiki classic. To make a Coconut Margarita, combine tequila, lime juice, grapefruit juice, coconut milk, and toasted coconut syrup in a shaker, and then pour the concoction into a Collins glass rimmed with a 50/50 mixture of salt and cinnamon.
Spicy Avocado Coconut Margarita
Due to avocado’s smooth texture and rich fats, it can be a difficult ingredient to incorporate into cocktails. But as there is perhaps no ingredient more complementary to Mexican food than avocado, this Spicy Avocado Coconut Margarita offers the perfect pair. Avocado and coconut milk combine perfectly to create a creamy texture that is balanced by the addition of jalapeño and a tajin rim for a bit of spice. To make one, combine ice, tequila, coconut milk, lime juice, agave nectar, avocado, orange juice, and jalapeño in a blender, blend, and serve in a Tajín-rimmed glass.
Blueberry Coconut Margarita
Part of the beauty of the Margarita is its ability to be tinkered with to create entirely new, delicious variations. This version adds blueberry simple syrup and coconut cream to the standard ingredient list of tequila, lime juice, and salt for a refreshing, fruity take on the classic cocktail.
Vodka-Based Coconut Cocktails
The Coconut Cosmo
Popularized in the late ‘90s by Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO hit series “Sex and the City,” the Cosmopolitan has long since maintained its position as a modern classic cocktail. The Coconut Cosmo offers a tropical riff on the pink drink by adding a variety of coconut essences and rosé wine to the traditional mix of vodka, cranberry, and lime juice. To make this Cosmo variation, combine coconut oil-infused Grey Goose vodka, Kalani coconut rum liqueur, cranberry-infused rosé wine, rosé vermouth, rosé wine, simple syrup, coconut water, and citric acid.
