Make a big batch of these, ‘cause people are going to love them. This is an easy drink to whip up and that’s a good thing. Amberjacks are a perfect September cocktail; the pineapple reminding you that there’s still a few weeks of heat ahead, the applejack promising the coming of autumn. I call it a transition cocktail; it will carry you between seasons.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Applejack
• ½ oz white Rum
• 2 oz orange juice
• 1 oz pineapple juice

Pour above ingredients into shaker with plenty of ice, shake ‘til ice-cold. Pour everything into a Collins glass and garnish with a cherry.

Picked this one up from a book by Beach Bum Berry who learned the recipe from Hawaiian Bartender, Harry Yee. The drink dates to around 1957. I whipped up a batch for a backyard barbeque this past summer. Ended up burning the chicken, but thanks to this drink, my guests loved it. One of those drinks you really should be sitting down and buckled up to enjoy.

Here we go –

• 8 oz passion fruit juice
• 1 ½ Bacardi 151 Rum
• ½ oz Orange Curacao
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 oz dark Rum
• 1 oz Bourbon

Fill a large glass or Tiki Mug with crushed ice, add all the ingredients and stir well. Garnish with pineapple, mint (add an orchid and a wooden back-scratcher if handy).

Mellow and strong, the Sir Walter’s a perfect cocktail for a quiet night. Having just a few friends over or a quiet evening with the little lady? Why not mix up a batch. I don’t know what it is about brandy, but as I creep ever deeper into middle age, I find this distilled grape spirit more and more approachable. Lots going on here but it’s not a busy drink, just a nice one.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Brandy
• ¾ oz white Rum
• 1 tsp Curacao (not blue)
• 1 tsp grenadine
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Shake in a shaker with ice, strain into a cocktail glass.

There’s a time and a place for this summer classic; when you’re back from a beach walk, after a barbeque or burgers on the grill, by the glow of tiki torches. I enjoy one after getting caught in the rain, or after making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape. May be sweet, may be kind of silly, but there’s a reason why this sipper’s so well loved. It’s damned delicious. Introduced on August 15, 1954 at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico by its alleged creator, Ramon Marrero, this one just has to be mentioned.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz white Rum
• 1 ½ oz cream of coconut
• 2 oz pineapple chunks
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• Splash of cream

Blend everything with 1-2 cups crushed ice in a blender ‘til smooth and creamy, pour into a chilled Collins glass or tiki mug, garnish with an orange slice & a cherry. Straw required.

I grow mint, and come August, I end up with a ton of it in my garden. Come August, I’m also starting to wish for ‘cooler evenings’ so, when I found an old cocktail recipe combining the two, I just had to give it a whirl. Come September, I expect to be out of mint. This one’s delicious.
Here we go –

• Crush/muddle big sprig of mint in a shaker
• Add ½ oz of lemon juice,
• 1 tsp of powdered sugar
• 1 ½ oz white Rum
• Cracked ice

Shake ‘til very, very cold. Strain into cocktail glass.

Well … Viva de Revolution Baby! If you have a beard, you’ll want to sip this one with a straw. I had my first one of these the other day at a local bar and had to write the mix down on a soggy bar nap, it was that damn good. Tangy, boozy, with a classic taste, love at first sip for me. It’s a summer sipper that, because of the calvados, I feel you can carry well into Indian summer.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lime juice
• ¾ oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1 ½ oz orange juice
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 ½ oz gold Rum
• ¾ oz Calvados
• Lime wedge

Shake everything except lime wedge in a shaker with crushed ice. Pour it all into tall glass, add more crushed ice if needed, squeeze lime and drop on into glass.

I’m always looking’ for a hot weather, rum cocktail that I can make in a hurry, doesn’t require a lot of syrups, fruit, or the layering of boozes, that’ll hit the spot while I’m swatting mosquitoes. Here’s just the one. It’s a quick cooler that’s perfect for when your guests are gathered ‘round the patio bar. Just offer them Ordinary Seaman from an ordinary home bartender.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lemon juice
• ¾ oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 oz dark Rum
• ¾ oz white Rum
• Lime wedge

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of crushed ice. Pour everything into a small highball glass, squeeze a lime wedge over the drink then plop in into the glass.

Not quite certain about the age of this one, it sounds kinda old and classic so I’m including it. I found this one in a tiki drink bar bible. It calls for Malibu rum, which wasn’t bottled ‘til the 80’s. I know, I know, it’s far from old-school classic, but I believe it will have legs. Every now and then, I’ll let a newer drink sneak by … but only if I feel it has that classic appeal. This is a good one, tried and tested … a few times.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz spiced Rum
• ½ oz Malibu (coconut) Rum
• ½ oz Drambuie
• ½ oz cream

Fill shaker with ingredients and ice, shake ‘til cold. Pour everything into a double old-fashioned glass.

A perfect drink for the patio, the addition of dry vermouth gives this otherwise almost tropical flavored cocktail a shot of serious. This is a drink for grown-ups, delicious and complicated.
Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Light or Dark Rum (up to you and what you prefer)
• ½ oz Dry Vermouth
• ½ oz Curacao
• Dash or two of Grenadine

Shake with ice then serve up in a chilled cocktail glass.

I first tried a few of these last year on an actual September morn’.   A great drink, but I fell asleep at my 9:30 meeting and kinda broke the office copier.   Won’t do that again.

Seriously, a tasty, frothy cocktail for early autumn.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz White Rum
• White of 1 egg
• ½ oz lime juice
• Dash or two of grenadine

Shake with ice; serve up in a chilled cocktail glass.

Yet another splendid reason to drink Applejack, the Whist is another one of those drinks that tastes from another time. You can use either Applejack or its wealthier brother Calvados. I actually prefer the cheaper AJ. I’m a seasonal drinker and enjoy this one more in the Autumn.

Here we go –

• 1 oz Applejack or Calvados
• ½ oz light or white Rum
• ½ oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir three ingredients with ice in a mixing glass or glass pitcher, strain into cocktail glass and watch the leaves fall.