Cocktails for Your Yacht Charter
Boat Drinks to relax with on your next charter…
Aptly named ‘boat drinks’ from the song of the same name by Jimmy Buffet and his songs of sailing the Caribbean seas, these mixtures of rums and fruit juices will go hand in hand with your yacht charter! Also known as tiki drinks or exotic cocktails (though boat drinks definitely works best for yacht charters!), if you’d like to go where the pace of life’s slow, these boat drinks will certainly get you in the mood for the sun and sea. As Jimmy Buffett writes:
“Boat drinks. Waitress I need two more boat drinks.
Then I’m headin south ‘fore my dream shrinks. I gotta go where it’s warm!”
Mai Tai
A sweet, fruity, and refreshing tropical rum drink associated with Polynesia. The original cocktail is a mix of light rum, lime juice, orange curacao and orgeat syrup. The pineapple version is a mix of light rum, triple sec, lime juice, pineapple juice, orange juice and a dash of grenadine to finish. Shake well and top each version with dark rum.
Ingredients:
¼ cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons white rum
1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
1 tablespoon (½ oz.) dry orange Curaçao
1 tablespoon orgeat syrup
1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice
1 tabelspoon (½ oz.) dark rum
Mint sprig, maraschino cherry, pineapple slice, for serving
Note: Feel free to replace the orgeat with simple syrup and a drop of almond extract, which will mimic the almond undertones.
Directions:
Combine pineapple juice, rum, lime juice, Curaçao, orgeat, and cherry juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with dark rum, and garnish with mint, cherry, and pineapple.
Piña Colada
If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain… You know the song! This creamy coconut concoction is simple to make and a perfect tropical respite on a hot sunny day.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup ice
½ cup diced pineapple, frozen
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces Coco Lopez coconut cream
1 ½ ounces white rum
1 ounce dark rum
Pineapple slices
Directions:
Put the ice, frozen pineapple, juice, coconut cream, and the white and dark rums into a blender. Blend until smooth and frosty. Pour the drink into 2 glasses and garnish the rim with pineapple slices.
Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling is smooth, sweet and herbaceous gin-based cocktail first created at the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsweetened pineapple juice
1 ½ tablespoons (¾ ounce) gin
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 ½ teaspoons (¼ounce) orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
1 ½ teaspoons (¼ ounce) cherry liqueur (such as Heering)
1 ½ teaspoons (¼ounce) herbal liqueur (such as Bénédictine)
1 dash of Angostura bitters
¼ cup club soda
Garnishes: Orange slices, Maraschino cherries
Directions:
Combine the pineapple juice, gin, lime juice, orange liqueur, cherry liqueur, herbal liqueur, and bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Cover and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a highball glass. Top with the club soda, and garnish, if desired.
Margarita
One of the most popular summer cocktails in North America, the margarita and its variations show no sign of slowing down. The margarita consists of tequila, triple sec, and fresh lime juice, and often has salt or sugar lining the glass to add some extra flavor.
Ingredients:
To make a classic margarita mix, all you really need are three basic margarita ingredients:
- 4 ounces Tequila. Silver or reposado is the best tequila for margaritas, but any kind of tequila (or mezcal or sotol) will work.
- 2 ounces orange liqueur. Cointreau is a go-to, but Grand Marnier is also delicious, or you can use a good-quality Triple Sec.
- 1 ½ ounce freshly-squeezed lime juice. The key words here are freshly and squeezed. It is highly recommend doing it with a citrus juicer, which makes juicing a breeze, especially when you’re making pitcher margaritas for a crowd.
Additional ingredients could include:
Agave: if you would like a sweeter margarita, feel free to mix in some agave syrup to taste
Kosher salt: if you would like to salt the rims of your glasses
Additional lime slices/wedges: for garnish
Directions:
Prep your glasses: If you would like to salt the rim of your glass, place coarse Kosher salt on small shallow plate, run a juicy lime wedge around the rim, then dip it in salt, and set aside.
Combine your ingredients in a cocktail shaker: Combine your tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, and a few ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Or if you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can shake things up in a mason jar or just stir everything together in a measuring cup.
Shake it, shake it, baby: Then give the mixture a good shake (or a good stir!) until it is combined and chilled.
Taste and add sweetener, if desired: Give the marg a taste, and if you think it needs extra sweetener, add in a teaspoon or two of agave (or simple syrup) at a time, until it reaches your desired level of sweetness.
Strain and serve on the rocks. Garnished with a slice of lime.
Caipirinha
Brazil’s ‘national cocktail’ roughly translates as ‘country bumpkin’ (somebody from the countryside)! It embraces the laid back and easy lifestyle. The cocktail contains a whole lime, fine sugar and cachaca (fermented sugar cane juice) served over ice. It’s quick and it’s simple.
Ingredients:
½ lime (cut into wedges)
2 teaspoons superfine sugar (or 1 oz simple syrup)
2 ounces cachaça
Directions:
Muddle the lime and sugar in a shaker, add the cachaça and ice, and shake well.
Pour into a rocks glass.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Mojito
The mojito is a firm favorite, originating from Cuba and has been popular since the ’80s. The classic mojito is made up of sugar, mint leaves, club soda, a lime and light rum. Light and refreshing on a hot summer’s day!
Ingredients:
10 fresh mint leaves
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
1 cup ice cubes
1 ½ ounces white rum
½ cup club soda
Directions:
Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture. Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice, and fill the glass with club soda. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if desired. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge.
Gin Pahit
The name will still be heard in 19th century sailing stories, but now more commonly known as Pink Gin or Gin & Bitters, this martini is simply gin and Angostura bitters, which gives the drink its pink tint. Given the references to it in sailing history, the gin pahit is a true boat drink.
Ingredients:
2 ounces gin
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Directions:
Stir the gin, bitters and sugar syrup together with ice.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Planter’s Punch
This drink has disputed origins, whether from the Planter’s Hotel in St. Louis or created by a Jamaican planter’s wife to cool down the workers, it first appeared in a 1908 edition of the New York Times. There are various versions, but the official cocktail is made of dark rum, lemon juice, grenadine syrup and a splash of Angostura bitters.
Ingredients:
1 ½ ounces dark rum
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
¾ ounce lemon juice
1 ounce grenadine
1 ounce simple syrup
4 dashes Angostura bitters
Directions:
Add all the ingredients into a shaker with ice, and shake vigorously.
Strain into a Collins glass over crushed ice.
Garnish with pineapple wedge, citrus wheels and/or mint sprig
Painkiller
Invented in the ’70s at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, the Painkiller is one of the most popular choices for sailors in the Caribbean. Made up of Pusser’s navy rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and cream of coconut, the drink is served over ice with a sprinkling of nutmeg on top.
Ingredients:
2 ounces rum (navy or dark)
4 ounces pineapple juice
1 ounce cream of coconut
1 ounce orange juice
Garnish: nutmeg
Directions:
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice
Shake well
Strain into a chilled highball glass filled with fresh ice
Sprinkle grated nutmeg on top
So, rustle up a boat drink for your yacht charter. Whether you cruise around the Caribbean islands, along the French Riviera or the Andaman Sea, they will more than put you in the mood for relaxing in the waves.
