Ingredients
- ¾ ounce vodka
- ¾ ounce white rum
- ½ ounce blue curaçao
- 2½ ounces pineapple juice
- ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ ounce simple syrup
- Ice
- Pineapple wedge and cherry for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, add ice, vodka, white rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, lime juice, and simple syrup.
- Shake to chill.
- Strain into hurricane or highball glass over fresh ice.
- Garnish with pineapple wedge and cherry.
Blue Hawaii Cocktail Variations and Substitutions
There are a few ways to make your blue Hawaii stand out from the rest, so take a glance at these ideas as you shake it up.
- Use only vodka instead of rum and vodka.
- Experiment with the vodka and rum proportion, exploring which one you prefer best.
- For a brighter pop of blue, add an extra splash of blue curaçao.
- Make your blue Hawaii with a bit of pucker by increasing the amount of lime juice.
- Split your pineapple juice with some freshly squeezed orange juice.
Garnishes for a Blue Hawaii
Since the blue Hawaii is a tropical drink, no one will bat an eye if you craft an extravagant garnish. Then again, maybe you want to keep yours simple.
- Add an orange or lime slice, wedge, or wheel to give your cocktail an additional pop of color.
- Make your citrus garnish stand out by using a dehydrated citrus wheel.
- Include a pineapple leaf or two for a tropical look.
- Pierce a cocktail skewer with a lime or orange peel, completing it with a cherry and pineapple wedge.
The Lore of the Blue Hawaii Cocktail
Unlike a handful of other cocktails with names based on the source of the ingredients or a dream vacation, the blue Hawaii actually does come from Hawaii. In 1957, Harry Yee first stirred up the blue Hawaii at the request of a distillery rep who was looking for a colorful drink that used blue curaçao. A Dutch distillery wanted to promote the Dutch-Caribbean liqueur, and Yee came through.
While Yee's recipe calls for vodka and rum, some bars will use only vodka, and others will toss all the ingredients in the blender to create a frozen blue Hawaii cocktail. Be sure not to mistake Yee's classic for the blue Hawaiian cocktail, which adds cream of coconut to the list of ingredients and utilizes lemon juice instead of lime.
Aloha Blue Hawaii
Escape to Hawaii with a stunningly blue cocktail that magically tastes more delicious than it looks. However, wherever, and whenever you pour yourself one of these, the Blue Hawaii cocktail will have you in an island state of mind. Now get ready to try some other blue curacao drinks.
