Your visit to Hawaii will never be complete unless you try our delicious food and tropical drinks. The place and the people are not the only things interesting about Hawaii. Those looking for an authentic island treat are in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience visiting Hawaii. Since posts about the best Hawaiian destinations and cuisines are common, it’s more fitting to bring something new to the table. This is precisely why you’ll know more about Hawaii’s best tropical drinks in this piece.

Tropical drinks are often aesthetically pleasing. Specifically, Hawaiian drinks are a sight to behold. They are like a colorful liquid in festive glasses, clinking with ice, crowned with exquisite garnishes, and studded with cute paper umbrellas. The taste reflects the island life – a party of different quirky flavors on your tongue. You’ll notice that the ice will either be rocky, blended, or crushed to keep you cool in all these drinks. Regardless of what the color and ice would look like, these drinks will never fail to make you feel how it would be when you’re partying in paradise.

Whether you’re now enjoying an aloha weekend on the island or still at home dreaming of that grand vacation while lounging in your living room, you need to know these top three Hawaiian drinks and their recipes.

Mai Tai

If you’re looking for a classic tropical drink, Mai Tai should be on your top of mind. While most people think this drink originated in Hawaii, it was invented in 1944 in Oakland, California. Trader Vic Bergeron wowed his friends from Tahiti by whipping this tart-sweet, rum-drenched masterpiece. When his guests tasted it, they shouted, ‘maitai roa ae!’ This expression means ‘very good’ and ‘how.’ Since then, the name has stuck. When Vic went to Hawaii in 1953, he introduced the drink there, and it finally took off.

Vic’s original recipe is refreshing yet complex. At the same time, the original recipe is applauded by enthusiasts, derivatives made by bartenders all over Hawaii already incorporated their own take on the classic drink. This only means that no one can be so sure if what they’re having is the traditional or its derivative. Here’s a simple recipe that can help you make your own Mai Tai at home.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. light rum, preferably VSOP Martinique (Rhum Clément) rum
• 1 oz. Jamaican or any dark rum
• Juice of fresh lime
• ½ oz. of Orgeat and Orange Curacao
• ¼ oz. of simple syrup
• 2 cups of crushed ice
• Mint sprig

Procedures:

Fill your double glass or goblet with crushed ice. After that, mix all ingredients in a shaker but leave the dark rum out. Shake the mixture and pour them into your ice-filled glass. Allow your dark rum to float on top while you garnish the drink with lime shell and mint sprig. You can add paper parasols for more vibrancy.

When in Hawaii, you can also take part in Kahana Village’s Mai Tai Party that’s complimentary to all its guests visiting the place on a Wednesday.

Blue Hawaii

This drink is reminiscent of the exquisite turquoise lagoon of the island. This drink is an explosion of tastes. A bartender named Harry Yee first made it at Hilton Hotel in 1957. This was possible because a sales rep from an Amsterdam-based distillery introduced Yee to the very first bottle of Blue Curaçao that ever reached the island.

The original and authentic Blue Hawaii drink should be built instead of shaken. Yee used to layer every ingredient in the ice-filled hurricane glass. After which, he stirs it before holding it up to compare its color to the Pacific Ocean that’s just sitting outside the window. You should not confuse Blue Hawaii with Blue Hawaiian, also a luau drink that contains coconut cream.

Ingredients:

• ¾ oz. of vodka
• ¾ oz. of Blue Curaçao
• ¾ oz. of white rum
• 1 oz. of free sour mix
• 3 oz. of fresh pineapple juice
• Maraschino cherry and fresh pineapple wedge for garnish

Procedures:

The first thing you need to do is fill your favorite hurricane glass with ice cubes. After that, pour all ingredients one by one while stirring them with a spoon. Once done, you can stick a notch of pineapple wedge and put it on the hurricane glass lip. If you’re aiming for a frozen blue Hawaiian, you need to get a blender and pulse all your ingredients until you see them smooth. In this case, you can now pour them into your favorite glass.

Hawaiian Margarita

Older couples love the Hawaiian margarita. However, it doesn’t mean that they’re the only ones who can enjoy it. The best way to enjoy this drink is by sitting by the pool and sipping from the glass with your favorite person. The hand-crafted Mexican version of this drink is quite hard to improve on. However, the Hawaiian version is its more worthy cousin. It’s a unique mixture for most people because of the lilikoi or passionfruit added to the mix, bringing a uniquely tropical vibe to the drink.

While Mexican margaritas are usually rimmed with salt for more dimension, its Hawaiian version has the rims dusted with li hing mui. Here’s how you can emulate this drink.

Ingredients:

• 75 oz. of lime juice
• 75 oz. of triple sec
• 1 oz. of simple syrup
• 25 oz. of tequila
• 75 oz. of lilikoi puree
• Li Hing Mui
• Lime slices

Procedures:

First, you need to rim with li hing mui powder the hurricane glass you’ll use. After which, pour all the ingredients into your ice shaker. Shake the mixture well before you fill your glass. Garnish your drink with lime slices. Once you’re done with all the steps, you can enjoy your drink however you like.

These are just three of the best tropical drinks that will greet you when visiting Hawaii. You can enjoy these drinks by yourself or with your loved ones. You can also prepare them at home when you’re craving some authentic Hawaiian experience. Remember to not be afraid to experiment and mix and match the ingredients to come up with concoctions that perfectly match your taste buds!