6 Tiki Drinks Every Guy Should Know How to Make

It’s impossible not to love the colorful, kooky vibe of a tiki bar. For the uninitiated, a tiki bar is known for its over-the-top interpretations of Polynesian and other island cultures. A specific set of fruity, tropical drinks typically adorn the menus, and are sipped by bar patrons in rooms adorned with glowering wooden statues, wild glass and ceramic mugs, palm trees, and a whole lot of bamboo.

While the décor and ambiance are important, the delicious drinks are what keep people coming back. There’d be no reason to make a tiki bar if you didn’t serve classic drinks like the mai tai, jungle bird, rum runner, and painkiller. These island-inspired drinks are often made with a rum base and loaded with tropical fruit flavors, then garnished with flowers and even more tropical fruits like pineapples and cherries.

While you can find a tiki bar or two in major cities around the world, its history can be traced back to two specific innovators. Inspired by Polynesian culture, a man named Donn Beach opened the first tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber, in Hollywood in the 1930s. Another man, Victor J. Bergeron, opened a bar called Trader Vic’s in Los Angeles in 1938. This is where he invented arguably the most popular tiki drink: the mai tai.

When air travel became more mainstream in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, more people were able to travel to islands in Hawai‘i. This enthusiasm for island culture led to a rise in tiki bar popularity in the continental United States. The style’s popularity has ebbed and flowed over the years. Alongside calls to abolish the tiki bar for cultural appropriation, we’ve also seen recent declarations that we’ve entered a new golden age of tiki.

You’ll probably need to pick up a couple new liqueurs to start making tiki drinks on the regular, but these sweet, boozy tipples will make you feel like you’re in a tropical paradise—even if it’s only until you finish your drink.

Arguably the most popular tiki cocktail, the mai tai is made with rum, lime juice, orgeat syrup, and Curaçao liqueur. (Use DeKuyper’s classic orange-colored variety, not the blue stuff.)  It has a boozy, sweet, tropical fruit flavor. The mai tai was invented in 1944 at Trader Vic’s in Los Angeles. As the story goes, he made the drink for some colleagues who were visiting from Tahiti. They loved the drink, and it became a mainstay at the bar.

Add the white rum, lime juice, orange Curaçao, and orgeat syrup to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously to combine. Strain the liquid into a glass. Float dark rum on the top.

The first navy grog recipe from the 1700s was just rum with some water to help proof it down. Eventually, an updated version featuring three different rums, honey syrup, lime juice, grapefruit juice, and club soda was sold at both Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s.

Navy grog is well-known for its high-octane, boozy, sweet flavor profile. When it was first created, this drink was so high in alcohol that there was a limit to how many cocktails guests could order before they were cut off. Planteray’s Mister Fogg Navy Rum is an authentic, old-school option for your dark rum here.

Add the white rum, dark rum, demerara rum, honey syrup, lime juice, and grapefruit juice to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously to combine. Strain the liquid into a rocks glass. Top with club soda.

Made with rum, banana liqueur, blackberry liqueur, grenadine, orange juice, and pineapple juice, the rum runner seems to only exists because a bartender needed to clean out some extra ingredients. Blackberry liqueur isn’t the easiest to find at your local corner store, but Drillaud’s Blackberry shouldn’t be too hard to track down at larger chains like Total Wine.

Named for the Prohibition-era rum runners, this drink was allegedly first made by a bartender named John Elber at the Holiday Isle Tiki Bar on Islamorada in the Florida Keys, who randomly grabbed excess ingredients he assumed would taste well together.

Add light rum, navy strength rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, banana liqueur, blackberry liqueur, and grenadine to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously to combine. Strain into an ice-filled glass.

This dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and cream of coconut-based drink is a take on the classic piña colada. This drink was created in the 1970s by a bartender named Daphne Henderson at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. While you can use any rum you prefer, the drink is traditionally made with Pusser’s Rum, a navy-strength rum. The brand even trademarked the name for the cocktail in the 1980s.

Add the Pusser’s rum, cream of coconut, orange juice, and pineapple juice to an ice-filled shaker. Shake to combine. Strain into an ice-filled glass. Garnish it with a pineapple wedge and grated nutmeg.

This tiki drink can be traced back to the 1970s at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur, where it was created by a bartender named Jeffrey Ong at the Aviary Bar. This sweet, lightly bitter, boozy drink is made with blackstrap rum (we like Seacret’s Spiced), a unique and flavorful variant.

Add blackstrap rum, pineapple juice, Campari, lime juice, and simple syrup to an ice-filled shaker. Shake it vigorously to combine. Strain the liquid into an ice-filled glass. Garnish it with a slice of pineapple.

Like many well-known tiki-style cocktails, the zombie can be traced back to one of the originators of the style. Donn Beach created this drink in 1934 at Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. It gained popularity in 1939 when it was sold at the World’s Fair in New York City. Making this with a high-quality overproof rum, like Planteray O.F.T.D., will elevate the experience in a significant way.

Add the white rum, dark rum, apricot liqueur, and orange juice to an ice-filled shaker. Shake to combine. Strain it into an ice-filled glass. Top it with high-proof rum. Garnish it with an orange slice.