18 recipes

Rum cocktail recipes

Rum classics are sour-family drinks: spirit, citrus, sugar, in a ratio that has to be right. A Daiquiri is the standard test of a bartender precisely because there is nowhere to hide — three ingredients, no bitters, no garnish doing any work.

The trap is that all three behave differently on a scale. Rum is 0.94 g/ml, lime juice is 1.03, and simple syrup is 1.11. Pour 60 / 25 / 20 ml and you are actually pouring 56.4 / 25.8 / 22.2 g — a spread of nearly 10% between what you think you poured and what is in the glass. Weighing removes it.

Daiquiri

White rum, lime, sugar. The benchmark for balance.

3 ingredients · 97 ml · 24.7%

Jungle Bird

Dark rum and Campari with pineapple. Surprisingly refreshing.

5 ingredients · 134.5 ml · 17.5%

Mai Tai

Trader Vic's original. Rum, orgeat, lime — no juice.

5 ingredients · 112 ml · 25.4%

Dark & Stormy

Gosling's dark rum poured over ginger beer. Don't stir.

3 ingredients · 195 ml · 12.3%

Between the Sheets

White rum and cognac with triple sec and lemon.

4 ingredients · 110 ml · 30%

Mary Pickford

White rum, pineapple, grenadine and maraschino. Jazz-age Havana.

4 ingredients · 135 ml · 19%

Planter's Punch

Dark rum, citrus and juices with grenadine and bitters.

7 ingredients · 156 ml · 11.8%

Cuba Libre

White rum and cola with fresh lime. Deceptively simple.

3 ingredients · 180 ml · 11.1%

Hemingway Special

A grapefruit-and-maraschino daiquiri. Papa took his without sugar.

4 ingredients · 130 ml · 22.2%

Mojito

White rum, lime and mint, topped with soda over ice. Cuban classic.

4 ingredients · 145 ml · 11%

Piña Colada

White rum, coconut cream and pineapple, blended smooth.

3 ingredients · 130 ml · 15.4%

Zombie

A potent tiki blend of rums, lime, falernum and grenadine.

7 ingredients · 166 ml · 34.3%

Canchánchara

Cuba's oldest cocktail: cane spirit, lime and honey.

3 ingredients · 95 ml · 25.3%

Don's Special Daiquiri

A tiki-era daiquiri with grapefruit and maraschino.

5 ingredients · 105 ml · 24.4%

IBA Tiki

A modern tiki blend of rums, lime, orgeat and orange.

5 ingredients · 120 ml · 27.5%

Missionary's Downfall

A frozen tiki cooler of rum, pineapple, mint and honey.

5 ingredients · 101 ml · 18.3%

Old Cuban

Audrey Saunders' aged-rum mojito, topped with sparkling wine.

5 ingredients · 158.5 ml · 15.8%

Three Dots and a Dash

A Donn Beach tiki classic — rum, citrus, falernum and honey.

6 ingredients · 101 ml · 19.9%

The PourPilot coaster

Every one of these, weighed for you

The PourPilot coaster sits under your glass and weighs each ingredient as it goes in, lighting up when you reach the target. All 124 recipes are in the free app, in grams, and it works with no internet connection at all.

See the coaster How it works

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