Beach Cocktail Guide: Tropical Drinks from Around the World

The Drink Belongs to the Place

Most beach cultures have a signature drink, and it usually comes from whatever the region grows or distills. The caipirinha exists because Brazil makes cachaça from sugarcane. The ti' punch exists because Martinique makes rhum agricole. The piña colada exists because Puerto Rico has pineapples, rum and a hotel bar that wanted a signature cocktail in the 1950s.

This guide covers the essential beach cocktails from the world's major coastal drinking cultures, where each one is a local habit, and enough recipe detail to make them at home. Where a standard recipe exists, the measurements follow the International Bartenders Association (IBA) official specification.

The Drinks at a Glance

Drink	Home	Base	In brief
Rum punch	The Caribbean (Barbados formula)	Rum	"One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak," plus bitters
Ti' punch	Martinique and Guadeloupe	Rhum agricole	Rum, lime and cane syrup, mixed to taste
Piña colada	Puerto Rico	Rum	Origin disputed; the Caribe Hilton claims 1954
Caipirinha	Brazil	Cachaça	IBA: 60 ml cachaça, one lime in wedges, four teaspoons of sugar
Bucket	Thailand	Thai rum or vodka	Spirit, energy drink and mixer in a pail, shared
Bali sunset cocktails	Bali	Arak	Local palm sugar, tamarind and pandan
Aperol Spritz	The Veneto, Italy	Aperol and prosecco	IBA: 90 ml prosecco, 60 ml Aperol, a splash of soda
Tinto de verano	Spain	Red wine	Red wine and lemon soda, about one to one
Michelada	Mexico	Light lager	Beer with lime, hot sauce, Worcestershire and a chile-salt rim
Margarita	Mexico	100% agave tequila	IBA: 50 ml tequila, 20 ml triple sec, 15 ml lime

The Caribbean

Rum Punch (Everywhere)

Every Caribbean island has its own rum punch. The Bajan (Barbadian) formula is the easiest to remember: "One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak." That is one part lime juice, two parts simple syrup or cane syrup, three parts rum and four parts water or fruit juice, finished with a dash of Angostura bitters and grated nutmeg. The sweetness hides the rum well, which is why rum punch catches people out in the afternoon heat.

Fresh punch made with the island's own rum is the version worth ordering: Mount Gay in Barbados, Appleton in Jamaica, Rhum Clément in Martinique, Cruzan in the US Virgin Islands. The premixed jugs sold in tourist shops are mostly sugar.

Ti' Punch (Martinique and Guadeloupe)

The French Caribbean's answer to rum punch is drier and built around the rum. Ti' punch (petit punch) is rhum agricole (rum distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses, which gives a grassier spirit), lime and cane syrup. The proportions are left to the drinker: bars often set out the bottle, the lime and the syrup and let you mix your own.

The ritual is to squeeze a small disc of lime peel and flesh (cut from the side of the fruit, not a wedge), add a teaspoon of cane syrup, pour a measure of white rhum agricole, which is usually bottled at 50 percent alcohol or more, and stir. That strength is worth respecting in the heat. The distillery estates on Martinique, including Habitation Clément, Depaz and JM, run tasting rooms where you can try the rhums side by side.

Piña Colada (Puerto Rico)

Puerto Rico's tourism board, Discover Puerto Rico, calls the drink's origin an unresolved controversy with three bartenders claiming it. The best-known claim is the Caribe Hilton's: Ramón "Monchito" Marrero created it at the hotel's Beachcomber Bar in 1954. Barrachina restaurant in Old San Juan credits its bartender Ramón Portas Mingot with the drink in 1963 and has a plaque at its entrance. Puerto Rico declared the piña colada its official drink in 1978.

The IBA recipe is 50 ml white rum, 30 ml coconut cream and 50 ml fresh pineapple juice, blended with ice. Use coconut cream (or sweetened cream of coconut), not coconut milk, which makes a thin drink. You can try both claimants in one evening: the Caribe Hilton sits in Puerta de Tierra, just east of the old city walls, and Barrachina is on Calle Fortaleza in Old San Juan. The San Juan beach guide covers the beaches nearby.

Brazil

Caipirinha

Brazil's national cocktail is cachaça (a spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice), lime, sugar and ice. The IBA specification is 60 ml cachaça, one lime cut into small wedges and four teaspoons of white cane sugar. Muddle the lime and sugar gently in a heavy glass to release the oils from the peel, fill with cracked ice, add the cachaça and stir.

The cachaça makes the drink, and widely sold brands include Leblon, Ypióca and Novo Fogo. Cheap cachaça can be harsh. On the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis and Búzios, vendors sell caipirinhas for far less than hotel bars charge, and fruit versions (caipifrutas) made with passion fruit, mango or other fruit are common in summer. Variations swap the base spirit: vodka makes a caipiroska and rum a caipirissima.

Southeast Asia

Buckets (Thailand)

Thailand's beach-party drink is the bucket: a small plastic pail holding a bottle of cheap spirit (often Sang Som, a Thai rum, or vodka), an energy drink and a mixer such as Coke, served with several straws for sharing. Beach bars in Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Phuket commonly charge a few hundred baht for one.

The energy drink is usually Krating Daeng, the Thai original that Red Bull was adapted from. It is uncarbonated and sweeter, and its caffeine per 100 ml is about the same as Red Bull's, so the risk is not a stronger mixer but the volume: a bucket can hold most of a bottle of spirit, and the caffeine masks how drunk you are. Pace yourself and drink water between rounds.

Bali Sunset Cocktails

Bali's beach bars, concentrated in Seminyak and Canggu, serve cocktails built on local ingredients such as arak (a traditional distilled spirit), palm sugar, tamarind and pandan. Well-known venues include Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak and La Brisa in Canggu. Cocktails at places like these cost roughly 120,000 to 180,000 rupiah, expensive by local standards and moderate by international beach-club standards. See the best beaches in Bali for the coast itself.

One safety point matters more than the menu. Australia's travel advisory service, Smartraveller, warns of methanol poisoning in Indonesia from contaminated drinks, including local spirits such as arak. Its advice is to drink only at reputable licensed premises and to avoid homemade alcohol.

Mediterranean

Aperol Spritz (Italy)

The Aperol Spritz has become the default afternoon drink of Mediterranean beach clubs, spreading from its home in the Veneto to waterfront bars from Croatia to Sardinia. The IBA recipe is 90 ml prosecco, 60 ml Aperol and a splash of soda water, built over ice in a wine glass and garnished with an orange slice. With prosecco and Aperol both around 11 percent alcohol, the finished drink is weaker than a glass of wine once the soda and ice are in, which is why it works as a daytime drink.

Tinto de Verano (Spain)

Spain's beach drink is simpler still: red wine and lemon soda (Fanta Limón, or a gaseosa such as La Casera), served over ice at roughly one to one. It is cheaper and less sweet than sangria and is what many Spaniards order at a chiringuito, while sangria is more often a tourist order. Inexpensive red wine is the norm, since the soda covers its flaws.

Mexico

Michelada

A michelada is beer turned into a savory drink. The base is a light Mexican lager (Modelo Especial, Pacifico or Victoria), combined with lime juice, hot sauce (Valentina or Tamazula), Worcestershire sauce, a little soy sauce and salt, served in a glass with a chile-salt rim. Some versions add Clamato (tomato and clam juice), which makes it close to a beer Bloody Mary.

Beach vendors in Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita and Tulum sell them for less than most cocktails. The salt and acid make it a good thirst-quencher in the heat, and it has a long-standing reputation as a hangover drink.

Margarita

The IBA margarita is 50 ml 100% agave tequila, 20 ml triple sec and 15 ml fresh lime juice, shaken with ice and strained into a chilled glass, with salt on half the rim if you want it. Check the tequila label for "100% agave"; tequilas without it can contain other sugars. Frozen machine margaritas at resort bars are a different, sweeter drink and rarely use good tequila.

Making Beach Cocktails at Home

The Essentials

Fresh lime juice (never bottled), good ice (large cubes for sipped drinks, crushed for caipirinhas and blended drinks), a jigger for measuring and the specific spirit the drink calls for. The difference between a mediocre cocktail and a good one is almost always fresh citrus versus bottled, and measured pours versus free-pouring.

Drinking in the Heat

Cold drinks are more refreshing in hot weather, but alcohol and sun together dehydrate you faster than either alone. Alternate cocktails with water, keep to drinks you know the strength of, and do not swim after drinking.