By twistandtoastMar 22, 2024Jump to Recipe

Take a leisurely swim in tropical waters with the gorgeous Blue Hawaiian—a beautiful blend of Blue Curaçao, pineapple juice, rum, and coconut—a drink designed for life on the beach!

Gorgeous Blue Hawaiian Cocktail featured image above

The Blue Hawaiian was created in—can you guess?—Hawaii! Honolulu’s Kaiser Hawaiian Village, to be exact. It’s now the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Resort, for those in the area and on a Tipple Tour. As the story goes, in 1957, a sales representative from Dutch distillery Bols asked Harry Yee, a bartender of some renown, to concoct a recipe that featured Bols’ Blue Curaçao. Harry duly obliged and came up with the Blue Hawaiian. Cinephiles (and Elvis buffs) will know that it shares its name with a 1961 film featuring the King.

Thanks to the Curaçao, the Blue Hawaiian sports a beautiful turquoise-blue color that immediately brings to mind sunny days spent on the Caribbean beach where the drink resembles the sea’s mesmerizing hue. We think that’s what the sales representative was going for. Its mix of exotic fruit and coconut cream immediately brings to mind the Pina Colada or Miami Vice. The Blue Hawaiian, however, has a twist: an orange flavor, thanks to the Blue Curaçao. I love whipping up a batch of these on those days that I regret not living on a sandy beach somewhere warm. One sip of a Blue Hawaiian and I immediately feel like I do!

What is Curaçao?

If you ask a geographer (or a citizen of the West Indies), they will tell you that Curaçao is the name of an island in the area. Mixologists, however, will tell you it’s the name of a liqueur, which, as it turns out, was named after the island. Traditional Curaçao is a translucent blue, though you can now get orange and clear varieties. Because of its color (and name, presumably), Curaçao is a go-to ingredient for tropical beverages. Despite the color, Blue Curaçao actually has an orange taste, not unlike triple sec. The taste is unsurprising when you realize it’s made with the dried peels of the Laraha citrus fruit, which is native to Curacao. So it all comes together!

What is the Best Rum to Use in a Blue Hawaiian?

Tough call. Each kind of rum has its benefits. Light/white rum, for example, is mild, which allows the other ingredients to step up and take the flavor plaudits. If you’re really into coconut, you can get Malibu, which is a coconut liqueur mixed with Caribbean rum (though its alcohol percentage is low, like most liqueurs). You can also opt for dark, premium, or aged rums, though their color will impact the brilliant blue of the Blue Hawaiian. These last options will bring a complexity to the cocktail—it’s just a matter of what you value more: substance or style!

Print Recipe

Servings

Ingredients

1 oz. Blue Curacao
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. cream of coconut
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 cup crushed ice
pineapple slice and maraschino cherry for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Pour the light rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut into a blender.
Add the crushed ice. Blend until a creamy consistency has been achieved.
Pour the mix into a chilled glass.
Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

Nutrition

Tips & Tricks to Making the Perfect Blue Hawaiian

Use quality ingredients, especially when it comes to the pineapple juice. Either make your own or check out the label of what you intend on buying from the store. A lot of them will contain added sugars and chemical compounds that will make your juice taste synthetic.
To finish off the look, invest (yes, they are an investment!) in mini umbrellas and hook one on your Blue Hawaiian’s rim. I do this on those cold winter days when the beach and warm weather have never seemed so far!
Given that the Blue Hawaiian is perfect for summer parties, you may want to make it in batches. Luckily, this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. Just don’t try to blend too much at once or you’ll end up with a blue-stained kitchen counter!
If you find the cream of coconut a tad on the heavy side, switch it out for coconut milk.
You don’t have to use a blender if you don’t want to. Instead, pour your ingredients into a shaker half-full of ice and shake away. Then pour the resulting mix into your hurricane glass and enjoy the snowless treat.

Gorgeous Blue Hawaiian Cocktail featured image below

FAQs

What glass and garnish should I use?

Tradition dictates you use a hurricane glass, but a long highball glass, which is generally more accessible, will also do. I do suggest, if you are throwing a Caribbean-themed party, that you go that extra mile and use hollowed-out coconuts or Tiki mugs. Top it off with a maraschino cherry, a wedge of pineapple AND a cute mini umbrella.

How do I store a Blue Hawaiian Cocktail?

If you want to prep your Blue Hawaiian, combine the ingredients (minus the ice) ahead of time then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you’ve blended it already, your only course of action is to store the drink in the freezer for no longer than a day or 2. Blend it back up when you’re ready to drink again, though you may need to add a bit more juice/cream to liven things up.

How many calories are in a standard Blue Hawaiian Cocktail?

There are 290 calories in the Blue Hawaiian, which may deter you from having too many of them. It’s typical of any cocktail that features creamy and sweet ingredients. But you can lower that number by switching out the cream of coconut with coconut milk and using fresh pineapple juice.

Can you make a virgin Blue Hawaiian?

Sure, you just have to get a little creative with your ingredient list. Use coconut milk, pineapple juice, and blue Gatorade, and leave out the rum and Blue Curacao.

How do I make my drink sweeter?

If you’re like Will Ferrell in Elf and subsist on sugar then add just that: simple sugar. It’s a 1:1 mix of granulated sugar and water.

Blue Hawaiian Cocktail Variations

What we’ve made here is actually a Frozen Blue Hawaiian because we’ve chosen to blend it with crushed ice. But that doesn’t mean you have to use a blender, too. You can treat it like punch and make a batch of it for parties. You can also thin it out (if creamy drinks aren’t your thing) by using coconut milk instead of the cream of coconut. And if sweetness isn’t your thing, you can add lemon juice to balance it out. And while you’re at the liquor store, take a stroll to see which other varieties of Curacao there is. You might find one worth using as part of this cocktail!