Mr. Bali Hai Recipe: Tiki Rum with Coffee and Pineapple

Mr. Bali Hai

Coffee and pineapple sound like an odd couple until you taste them together over crushed ice. Dark rum adds molasses depth, lemon keeps it lively, and the result is a tiki drink that tastes like dessert without being heavy.

3.5Editors’ rating

Taste3.6

Balance3.4

Easy to make3.9

Popularity8

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GlassTiki mug

TechniqueShaken

DifficultyMedium

Time4 min

StrengthMedium (approx. 15 % ABV)

OriginUnited States

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Ingredients

1½ oz dark rume.g. Gosling's · Myers's · Captain Morgan · Bacardi · Kraken
1 oz white rume.g. Bacardi · Havana Club · Plantation · Don Q · Flor de Caña
¾ oz coffee liqueure.g. Kahlúa · Tia Maria · Mr Black · Borghetti
1½ oz pineapple juice unsweetened
1 oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup

Garnish: Pineapple wedge and mint sprig · Ice: Crushed ice

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker.
Add a scoop of crushed or shaved ice.
Shake hard until the shaker is frosty.
Pour everything, ice included, into a tiki mug and top with more crushed ice.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a mint sprig.

Watch it made

Mr. Bali Hai

Taste

Fruity and rich with pineapple, roasted coffee and dark rum molasses, kept fresh by lemon. Medium-bodied and fairly strong.

History and origin

The Mr. Bali Hai is the house drink of the Bali Hai restaurant on Shelter Island in San Diego, one of the Polynesian-themed restaurants that flourished in mid-century America. Like many tiki recipes it has changed over the years, so what the restaurant pours today may differ from older printed versions.

The recipe given here is close to the version popularized by tiki historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, whose books helped rescue many forgotten tiki drinks from obscurity. Its unusual feature is coffee liqueur, a rare ingredient in classic tiki, which pairs surprisingly well with pineapple and the deeper notes of dark rum.

Bartender tips

Use a full-bodied Jamaican or Demerara dark rum; a light, sweet dark rum gets lost behind the coffee.
Choose a coffee liqueur that tastes of real coffee rather than just sugar, or reduce the simple syrup if yours is very sweet.
Crushed ice matters: it dilutes quickly and turns the rich mix into a cool, easy sipper.

Variations

Mr. Bali Hai with Espresso: An easy twist: add 15 ml cold espresso and reduce the coffee liqueur to 15 ml for a drier, more coffee-forward drink.
Rum Blend Twist: Replace the white rum with an aged Barbados rum for a rounder, oakier version.