Transport yourself to the sunny tropics with these delicious island cocktails and my homemade, tropical sweet & sour mix! Heads up: if you're a fan of coconut, you're going to love this post!
In This Post:
Homemade Tropical Sweet & Sour
If you've ever tasted a cocktail that used a fresh batch of sweet & sour mix, you know that pre-made grocery store mixers absolutely pale in comparison. I almost never order margaritas in restaurants anymore unless they make their own sweet & sour; it's always too sweet and never tastes like a cocktail with real ingredients, it just pretty much tastes like an inevitable hangover. Trust me, once you make your own batch at home, you'll taste the difference and never look back.
Sweet & sour is basically a mixture of fresh lime juice, lemon juice, and a whole 'lotta sugar. You can adjust the recipe to your liking, but the recipe I found most common is: 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of lime juice, 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. Easy peasy. Dissolve the sugar into hot water to create a simple syrup, and then once your syrup has cooled, add your citrus and voilà! You have homemade sweet & sour!
Now for me, I like it very citrusy, and I also like to keep it easy, so I'll do 1 cup of everything and 2 cups of water, but feel free to experiment with your own batch and remember to write down how you made it so you can remember it in the future!
Tropical Sweet & Sour
2 cups of Water
1 cup of Sugar
1 cup of freshly-squeezed Lemon Juice
1 cup of freshly-squeezed Lime Juice
1 freshly-squeezed Orange
3-4 tablespoons of Cream of Coconut
Bring your water to a boil, and then mix with sugar until the sugar dissolves. Let the simple syrup cool while you get to squeezing the citrus! Once it's cooled, add in your citrus and give it a stir. Seal it tight and keep refrigerated 2-3 weeks.
If I'm making cocktails for just a few of my friends, I'll half this recipe, and it'll fit nicely in a mason jar with just a little left over, which I'll usually throw in a cocktail right away anyway. (If you're curious about that beautiful white froth craft cocktails have at the top from their sweet & sour, the secret ingredient is egg whites! I, however, never add these when I'm making cocktails at home. If you decide to add these, be sure to double check how long egg-whites can stay fresh in the fridge.)
Cocktails with the Tropical Sweet & Sour
Honestly, I think this mix puts a delicious tropical twist in any cocktail that calls for sweet & sour, so have fun with it! But my favorites to use it for are margaritas and whiskey sours.
Mango Margarita
1.5oz of Silver Tequila
0.75oz of Cointreau (or triple sec)
1.0oz of Tropical Sweet & Sour Mix
2.5-3.0oz of Mango Nectar
Tajin Seasoning (optional)
Lime Wedge for Garnish
Take a lime wedge along the rim of the glass, then dip your glass into a plate of Tajin seasoning. Fill with ice, then set aside.
Add the first four ingredients into a shaker, and vigorously dry shake. Then pour it into your glass with ice. Squeeze and drop a lime wedge.
Pineapple Margarita
1.5oz of Silver Tequila
0.75oz of Cointreau (or triple sec)
1.0oz of Tropical Sweet & Sour Mix
3.0oz of Pineapple Juice
Tajin Seasoning (optional)
Lime Wedge for Garnish
Follow the same instructions above.
I'm not sure if pineapple and Tajin are a traditional combo, but I honestly love Tajin with both mango and pineapple margs, so I use it!
Tropical Whiskey Sour
1.5oz of Whiskey
2.5oz of Tropical Sweet & Sour
Cherry and Orange Quarter for Garnish
Pour your whiskey and sour mix into your shaker and dry shake. Then pour into your ice-filled glass, and garnish with a cherry and orange quarter.
Whiskey Sours are easy and yet tricky at the same time; it's very easy to make it too sweet. I personally like doing equal parts (2oz of each), but I know for people who are easing themselves into whiskey, that might be too strong, and for those who love whiskey neat, it'll still be too sweet. That's why I recommend the above portions to start off with, it's a little more balanced, and then for those who like it stronger, I'd start with 2oz of whiskey and 1oz of sweet & sour and play with it from there.
Ocean Breeze Margarita
1.5oz of Silver Tequila
1.0oz of Blue Curacao
2.0oz of Tropical Sweet & Sour
0.75oz of Cream of Coconut
Mint Sprig & Lime Wheel for Garnish
Add your first four ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake! Then strain into your ice-filled glass, and garnish with the mint sprig and lime wheel.
This marg has a fun ocean-blue color, and is full of sweet, coconutty goodness! If you like your margs a little stronger, I'd recommend upping the tequila to 2oz.
I also had the fun idea to add a shredded coconut rim to this one, which sounded fun in theory, but I had a hard time getting any shredded coconut to actually stick to the rim. I lined the rim with simple syrup to get the coconut to stick, but it didn't want to stay, haha!
Cocktails with Coconut Water
These are low in booze and high in coconut water, so you can enjoy your cocktail as well as stay hydrated all day long in that summer heat!
Blue Coconut Cooler
1.0oz of Vodka
1.0oz of Blue Curacao
0.5oz of Coconut Cream
3.5oz of Coconut Water
Mint Sprig for Garnish
Add the first four ingredients to your shaker, fill with ice, then shake! Strain into your glass filled with ice and garnish with a mint sprig.
For more sweetness, you can add more coconut cream. Since it's thick and very sweet, I like to start with a little and add more if needed.
Island Rum Punch
1.5oz of White Rum
0.75oz of Simple Syrup
2-3 Strawberries (sliced or quartered)
4-5 Pineapple Chunks
Top with Coconut Water
Garnish with an Orange Wheel
Add the strawberries, pineapple and simple syrup to your shaker and muddle. Then add the white rum. Take your glass, fill it to the top with ice, then pour into your shaker and shake! Dump everything back into your glass, and pour to the top with coconut water. The fruit may stay on the top of your ice, so use a bar spoon to lightly stir the fruit around, and then use your spoon to lower an orange wheel along the inside of your glass.
For more sweetness, you can add more simple or use a coconut flavored rum. For a lower calorie cocktail, nix the simple completely and only use fresh fruit, unflavored rum and coconut water.
Other Fun Tropical Cocktails
Ocean Water Spritz
1.0 oz of Vodka
1.0 oz of Blue Curacao
0.5 oz of Simple Syrup (optional)
Juice from 1/2 a Lemon
Top with Soda
Add the first four ingredients into a tall juice glass, then fill your glass with ice and top with soda.
To keep the beautiful layering, I don't like to mix the glass much until I'm ready to drink it. However, as the color indicates, most of the ingredients will be at the bottom of the cocktail, and it's best to stir it with a straw before you drink it to avoid only getting a sip of soda or only getting a sip of vodka.
Pineapple Coconut Mojito
1.5oz of White Rum
1.5oz of Pineapple Juice
Juice of 1/2 a Large Lime
0.75oz of Cream of Coconut
5-6 Mint Leaves
Top with Soda
Mint Sprigs & Lime Wheels for Garnish
Add the first five ingredients to your shaker. Fill your glass with ice, then dump that ice into your shaker, and shake all the ingredients. Dump everything back into your glass, then top with soda. Drop the lime wheels into the cocktail, and garnish with a mint sprig.
Be sure that after you pour all the ingredients back into your glass, your glass is filled with ice, so that you're pouring a little more than a splash of soda into your cocktail. If you need more ice after you shake, be sure to add some so that you're not completely watering down your cocktail with soda.
Blue Hawaiian
1.0oz of White Rum
1.0oz of Blue Curacao
0.75oz of Cream of Coconut
2.0oz of Pineapple Juice
Maraschino Cherry & Orange Wheel for Garnish
Add the first four ingredients into your shaker, add ice and shake! Then strain into your ice-filled glass. Add your garnishes, and enjoy!
Once again, if you like your drinks a little stronger, I'd do 1.5 - 2oz of rum. However, if you're planning on day drinking in the summer sun and having multiple of these, I'd stick with the one ounce. No one likes a hangover!
Cheers!
Hope these delicious and fun tropical drinks transport you to your next, exotic beach getaway - whether you're poolside, on your balcony, or hosting your next backyard bbq!
**All the cocktail recipes listed in this blog post can also be found in the "Cocktail" section of my website as well! To see quick videos on how to make my cocktails, check out my Instagram Reels Page by clicking here!