Blue Hawaiian

The Blue Hawaiian is a Tiki riff on a Piña Colada with the addition of Blue Curaçao to give it its distinct colour (and further flavours). Because of its mesmerising appearance, this drink is a lot of fun to make and even more fun to enjoy. And if you're whipping up Piña Coladas, why not just add the extra ingredient and make something even more tempting?

The Blue Curaçao also gives this cocktail a slight orange flavour, which goes perfectly with the Pineapple Juice, Coconut, and of course, the Rum.

Perfect as a pool side cocktail or just sitting in the sun, the Blue Hawaiian is sure to impress. Have fun and enjoy!

Total Time 3

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

45 mL White Rum
20 mL Blue Curaçao
60 mL Pineapple Juice
20 mL Cream of Coconut
Garnish with pineapple wedge and a cherry

Instructions

Add ingredients to a mixing glass with plenty of ice and stir until cold.
Strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish and enjoy your cocktail.

Notes

There's not much solid history on this drink, but it was likely invented by Don the Beachcomber as one of his many famous Tiki drinks. The blue colour gives it the typical Tiki flamboyance and, while there's a bit of a kick in there, it's not quite as strong as a lot of other Tiki drinks like a Fog Cutter. Watch out though, this is a smooth cocktail that's easy to drink and, as mentioned, it's not a weak drink. Approach with caution!

Here’s a Bit More on the Blue Hawaiian

As mentioned, the Blue Hawaiian is a bit of a Tiki take on the Piña Colada. However, it’s not simply a blue Piña Colada. The Blue Curaçao adds some additional flavours, notably a little bit of bitterness that combines well with the tart and sweet aspects of the other ingredients. However, the Curaçao isn’t all bitter! It also has a little bit of sweetness and a bit of an orange flavour, which is quite welcome with the Pinapple Juice! So, despite the comparisons to a Piña Colada, this cocktail is very much its own thing!

We like to think the addition of the Blue Curaçao adds a little extra refreshment to the beverage. A bit of sourness and a bit of sweetness is a relatively common formula for cocktail recipes, but the addition of the Blue Curaçao flavours change the formula and just add more!

Can I make more than one Blue Hawaiian at the same time?

Sure! Just put more of everything in the mixing glass to make a few Blue Hawaiians at the same time. You can even make a jug of Blue Hawaiians if you have a few people to serve. This is a wonderful cocktail share with others (or maybe have a few of).

If I make Blue Hawaiians ahead of time, will they keep in the refrigerator?

They should, but don’t let your cocktails sit for too long? For an ingredient like Cream of Coconut, you want to make sure that it’s well stirred in with the rest of the ingredients and stays stirred in with the other ingredients. You should be able to let this cocktail sit for a little while (i.e. if you’re expecting people over soon), but don’t let it sit for too long.

What’s the best opportunity for a Blue Hawaiian

Although we said we wanted to stop making comparison between the Blue Hawaiian and the Piña Colada, we kind of have to here if we’re going to talk about the best times to have one! We see the Piña Colada as one of the ultimate vacation cocktails. It’s the cocktail you have while lying in a sun lounger. In fact, you don’t even need to get up to get one as the beach you’re relaxing on has waiters. The Blue Hawaiian is the same kind of drink. Of course you’re more than welcome to have a Blue Hawaiian at home, but it’s really a vacation drink. While we keep mentioning the sun lounger scenario, it’s also a good one drink to have at a resort bar, especially if it’s a bit more flamboyantly garnished. It’s cold, it’s delicious, and it looks good!

Is the Blue Hawaiian a strong cocktail?

Thanks to the Blue Curaçao it’s a little bit stronger than the Piña Colada, but not by much. Although the Blue Hawaiian strays a little bit from the classic formula of things, it doesn’t stray in the amount of alcohol. You’ll notice that a lot of cocktails have about 60 mL of alcoholic liquid in them and this one has 65 mL, so we’re going to say it’s about average, compared to other cocktails.

What kind of music should be played while having a Blue Hawaiian?

Although there’s pretty much nothing authentically Hawaiian about the Blue Hawaiian, we want to honour the attitude of the cocktail by suggesting you play some traditional Hawaiian music while having this cocktail. As we already said, there’s a clear vacation feel to a cocktail like this. It’s the kind of drink you have at a resort, and Hawaiian music wouldn’t be surprising at a resort.

You’re also welcome to pretend that you’re on vacation by making up a couple Blue Hawaiians. Not all of us have the time or money to go to exotic tropical locals, so this is the perfect drink to play pretend and get away without actually getting away. Make a couple of these, turn on the Hawaiian music, and enjoy!

And more cocktail recipes for you!

We have lots of cocktail recipes on this website, so you may be interested in browsing a little bit more. Take a look below at some recipes areas we think you’d like.

All Tiki cocktail recipes: if you liked the Blue Hawaiian, maybe you’ll like other Tiki cocktail recipes. Take a look through these recipes from all our Tiki stuff!

All White Rum cocktail recipes: after you’re done with Tiki, take a look at other cocktail recipes you can make with white Rum!

All Rum cocktail recipes: then move onto all Rum in general: white, golden, dark! There’s tons of Rum recipes for you!

Top 10 Rum cocktail recipes: if all of the above is too much choice, we’ve narrowed things down to our ten favourites. Here you go!