15 Beach Cocktails to Try

The Blue Hawaiian is as blue as Hawaii’s pacific ocean thanks to blue curacao. This Hawaiian-born recipe honors Hawaii’s famous tropical bounty, blending rum and vodka with pineapple juice. Sweet and sour mix adds a powerful flavor explosion that hides the alcoholic bite of white rum and vodka. Don’t forget the tropical umbrella garnish!

The famous Cuban Daiquiri is a simple three-ingredient blend of rum, lime juice, and sugar. However, the Strawberry Daiquiri has become the iconic beach cocktail we all order at resorts and beach shacks today. It simply adds fresh or frozen strawberries to the mix, adding an elegant berry flavor and slushie texture.

The most iconic Mexican drink on earth, the classic Margarita is a mainstay at Mexican restaurants, bars, and beaches worldwide. Its origins date to the 1940s to one of Mexico’s most famous beach towns, Acapulco. This most classic of Margarita recipes with blend of tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, and simple syrup.

A true taste of the tropics, the Bahama Mama is a rum cocktail that uses dark and coconut rum, pineapple and orange juice for a bright and refreshing beach cocktail. Grenadine gives it a deep pink hue while also adding a crisp, bitter finish. A pineapple slice and maraschino cherry garnish are par for the course.

This sensual and indulgent cocktail is a great drink to enjoy with your significant other. It is a vodka cocktail with a rich fruity flavor, compliments of cranberry and orange juice. However, its decadent sweetness and creamy texture come from Peach schnapps and Creme de Cassis. This utterly sweet cocktail will woo your partner with the flavors of summer.

Drink at your own risk! The Long Island Iced Tea is famous for being the most alcoholic beverage you can order at any bar, and you’re usually limited to just one! It consists of equal parts vodka, gin, white rum, and white tequila. It gets its tea-colored hue from a blend of cola and sweet and sour mix.

There’s no more iconic beachside cocktail than the classic pina colada, a creamy, coconutty rum cocktail. Equal parts cream of coconut and rum go into this cocktail with a splash of lime and pineapple juice to make this the dreamiest tropical concoction. You throw all ingredients with plenty of ice in a blender to give it that famous smoothie-like texture.

Cuba Libre is an iconic drink that represents the marriage of two cultures: Cuba and the USA. The drink came about around the time Coca-Cola became popular in the US, which coincided with the end of the Spanish-American war. Thus this rum and coke drink also marks the freedom of Cuba from colonial rule, hence the name Cuba Libre. There’s no tastier two-ingredient cocktail, garnished with a slice of lime.

The tropical Mai Tai actually originated in foggy San Francisco when restaurant owner Victor Bergeron wanted to wow some Tahitian clients with this now iconic concoction. It’s still impressive to this day, using aged rum and rum Agricole blended with almond syrup, orange curacao, and lime. The almond and orange liqueurs are delicious flavor pairings for the two top-shelf rum varieties.

A slushier rendition of your favorite Mexican cocktail, the Frozen Margarita takes the classic Margarita recipe and throws it in a blender with plenty of ice. The addition of ice waters down the tequila a bit, but there’s nothing more refreshing. Pair it with chips and guacamole, and you might as well be on the beach in Acapulco.

Yet another rum cocktail to come from Cuba, the Mojito is the most refined and refreshing of the bunch. Muddling mint with lime juice and sugar, the tangy, minty flavors blend beautifully with the harsh alcoholic bite of white rum. Soda water gives it a refreshing and bubbly finish. 

Named for the famous Massachusetts peninsula of Cape Cod, you might know the Cape Codder as a vodka cranberry. Apparently, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producer in the US, so this simple two-ingredient beverage honors the state’s natural bounty. This recipe calls for a 1:3 ratio of cranberry juice to vodka.

Ironically, the Tequila Sunrise comes from California, the land known for its incredible sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. It gets its sunset-colored hues by layering orange juice and grenadine on top of a shot of tequila. The reds and oranges provide a beautiful color scheme and a tasty bittersweet blend.

This iconic rum cocktail comes from New Orleans, originating in a 1920s speakeasy called Pat O'brien's. It’s a simple three-ingredient recipe that blends aged rum with passion fruit and lemon juice. That said, modern adaptations add white rum, grenadine, and sugar for a sweeter and boozier cocktail.

While this West Texas native cocktail was created far from the beach, it is made for the heat. It’s a simple blend of tequila, soda water, and lime juice. The ratio of lime to tequila is a balanced 1:2. This is an easy cocktail to make on the fly, and will refresh you on a hot summer day.