California Surfer

Very easy to make, the California Surfer combines equal parts Coconut Rum, Jägermeister, and Pineapple Juice for a great cocktail with plenty of kick. There's a tropical aspect to this cocktail due to the Coconut and Pineapple with an unusual aspect due to the Jägermeister that's sure to surprise.

Why it's called the California Surfer, we don't know. This drink is sometimes also called the Surfer on Acid which has a somewhat threatening name, and perhaps better. Although not too old a cocktail, it's still a great California standard.

Serve this drink however you like and adjust the quantities to suit, even if you want to do it as a quick shooter. Either way, stay out of the water after having a few of these...

Total Time 4

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

30 mL Coconut Rum
30 mL Jägermeister
30 mL Pineapple Juice

Instructions

Throw all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well until very cold.
Strain into a glass of your choosing. Some like it on the rocks, some like it neat. You do you.
Enjoy.

Notes

As mentioned, you can serve this drink however you like, just adjust the ratios to suit. Our recipe is best suited to a Rocks glass, but if you want to cut everything back and serve this drink in a shot glass, go for it!

Personally we like this cocktail on the rocks. There are some pretty bold flavours in there, so serving the cocktail with ice and allowing it to dilute slightly will make things a little less intense. But hey, you may like things a little more intense, dude.

Our Review of the California Surfer Cocktail

Whether you call if the California Surfer Cocktail or the Surfer on Acid Cocktail, the results are the same: an interesting cocktail that will be enjoyed by many and probably not liked by quite a few as well.

A mixture of coconut rum and pineapple juice makes sense. These are relatively complimentary tropical flavours. Sure, Jägermeister has a sweetness to it, but it’s also quite herbal and spicey. Does that really go well with coconut and pineapple? Maybe a hint of it, but everything in equal measures creates quite the experience!

This is why the California Surfer/Surfer on Acid is sometimes only served as a shot rather than a full cocktail. A Surfer on Acid shot goes down very quickly because it is just a shot. This doesn’t allow you to dwell too long on everything and just enjoy the unusual mix of flavours. Sometimes only a little bit works very well, but too much is, well, too much.

While I encourage you to try the California Surfer Cocktail, see how you like it as the full cocktail first. If there mixture of flavours isn’t working for you, try it just as a shot, which can be fun and a bit of a pick me up. If you’re leaning more towards the shot angle, it works well as a welcome drink for friends coming over for a day by the pool or simply a barbeque on a nice day. The California Surfer (full cocktail or shot) isn’t an “all day” kind of drink, just a quick one to kick things off before moving onto something else.

6.5/10

Review by Bobby

If you like Rum, we have more for you!

The California Surfer is made with Coconut Rum, which is nice in a lot of drinks. We have plenty of recipes containing Coconut Rum and Rum in general. Take a look:

Top 10 Rum cocktail recipes: we’ll start with our ten favourite Rum based cocktail recipes. It’s a good place to look for recipes if you want to keep the Rum fun going but you don’t want to have to scroll through too many recipes.

All Rum cocktail recipes: or, if you do want a good amount of choice in your life, we have a ton of Rum cocktail recipes. Take a look to see if you find a new favourite.

Top 15 easy cocktail recipes: the California Surfer only has three ingredients, so it’s pretty easy to make. We’ve curated a list of cocktail recipes with three ingredients or fewer. Take a look!