Dark ‘n’ Stormy
Bermuda’s favourite highball pairs dark rum with spicy ginger. Using Fiery Ginger Syrup and soda instead of ginger beer gives you a fresher, punchier ginger flavour, and you can set the spice level exactly how you like it.
Painkiller
Born at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands in the 1970s, where guests famously swam ashore for their drinks. A bold navy-style rum is the traditional choice, and fresh nutmeg on top is a must.
Piña Colada
Puerto Rico’s national drink, first mixed in San Juan in the 1950s. Instead of heavy cream of coconut, this version uses Liber & Co.’s Toasted Coconut Syrup for a lighter, more flavourful Piña Colada that still tastes like a holiday.
Clover Club
Named after a Philadelphia gentlemen’s club that met at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel before Prohibition, the Clover Club is a silky, pink gin sour sweetened with raspberry syrup.
Pisco Punch
The Pisco Punch was the toast of San Francisco in the 1890s, served by Duncan Nicol at the Bank Exchange saloon. His exact recipe went with him to the grave, but pineapple gum syrup is the key to the version bartenders make today.
Fog Cutter
One of Trader Vic’s signature drinks, the Fog Cutter mixes rum, brandy and gin with fresh citrus and orgeat, then finishes with a float of sherry. It’s a strong one, so sip slowly.
Zombie
Don the Beachcomber’s legendary Zombie, first mixed in Hollywood in 1934. It packs three rums, and Don famously limited guests to two per visit. This is the 1934 recipe as rediscovered by tiki historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry.
Jungle Bird
Created in 1978 at the Aviary Bar of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, the Jungle Bird is a tiki classic with a bitter edge thanks to Campari. Rich demerara syrup rounds off the bitterness and brings out the dark rum.
Hurricane
Born at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans in the 1940s, the Hurricane takes its name from the curvy, hurricane-lamp-shaped glass it’s served in. Passion fruit is the star of the show, so a proper passionfruit syrup makes all the difference.
Mai Tai
The cocktail that defined tiki. Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron created the Mai Tai at his Oakland bar in 1944, and legend says a Tahitian friend took one sip and declared it “maita’i roa ae”, out of this world. This is the original spec: two rums, fresh lime, orange curaçao and orgeat.
