Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Rum Cocktails

Caribeño

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Updated 04/12/22
Two matching highballs are filled with ice and a cloudy white drink, garnished with lime wedges and black straws. They sit on a table at the beach with a crowd facing the ocean in the background.
Image:

Martin Cate

When it comes to beach-side drinking, it’s hard to beat the Daiquiri, an ephemeral but lingering libation of rum, sugar and lime. However, when well-balanced, the Cuban classic can become dangerously quaffable, especially when relaxing in the sun. After an evening imbibing rum, the next morning might call out for that other perfectly tropical beverage: coconut water. Refreshing, hydrating and naturally silky sweet, coconut water is far more enjoyable than as solely a hangover cure, and in the Caribeño it’s combined with the Daiquiri for an all-in-one refreshing highball. It’s one you can enjoy for longer than a pure Daiquiri, and won’t leave you with quite the headache the next morning.

The Caribeño comes from Tiki bartending legend Martin Cate, owner of Smuggler’s Cove and Whitechapel in San Francisco. Essentially a tall version of a Daiquiri, at Smuggler’s Cove it’s made with rum, coconut water and a “squeeze of lime.” You can certainly try making it that way at home, but this recipe is the more commonly held one, today.

It starts with Puerto Rican white rum—the most famous example of this is Bacardi Superior white rum, one of the most recognizable rums in the world. And while its name conjures hip hop lyrics (possibly due to the ease of rhyming it with “party”), it’s an exceptional rum that would work well in the Caribeño. Don Q, Puerto Rico’s top selling rum, is another solid option, but any white Puerto Rican rum can work.

When it comes to coconut water, use whichever brand you like, or you can always even buy a coconut and use the water stored within for an authentic experience. In any case, be sure to get the unsweetened kind—normally the drink calls for simple syrup, allowing the bartender to control the level of sweetness. If you can only find sweetened coconut water and are intent on making the drink, be sure to taste it for sweetness before adding any additional sugar.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Puerto Rican white rum

  • 4 ounces coconut water

  • 1/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

  • 1/4 ounce rich simple syrup

  • Garnish: lime wedge

Steps

  1. Add the rum, coconut water, lime juice and rich simple syrup into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

  2. Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice.

  3. Squeeze a lime wedge into the glass and drop it in the drink to garnish.