Bahama Mama

Ingredients

Cocktail

• 30 mldark Bahamian or Jamaican rum
• 30 mlcoconut rum
• 15 mloverproof gold rum (optional float)
• 60 mlfresh pineapple juice
• 45 mlfresh orange juice
• 15 mlfresh lemon juice
• 10 mlgrenadine
• 5 mlcoffee liqueur (optional, as in the Nassau original)

To finish

• crushed ice, to fill
• 1orange half-wheel
• 1pineapple wedge
• 1maraschino cherry

Directions

1. Chill a hurricane glass and fill it to the brim with crushed ice.
2. Add the dark rum, coconut rum, coffee liqueur, pineapple juice, orange juice and lemon juice to a shaker with three cubes of ice.
3. Shake hard for 8–10 seconds only — just long enough to chill and aerate; a long shake waters it down and kills the pineapple foam.
4. Strain into the prepared glass over the crushed ice, leaving 2 cm of headroom.
5. Pour the grenadine slowly down the inside wall of the glass so it sinks and pools at the base, giving the sunset gradient the drink is known for. Do not stir.
6. Float the overproof rum over the back of a bar spoon if you want the full Bay Street version.
7. Garnish with the orange half-wheel and pineapple wedge on the rim, drop the cherry in, and serve with a straw pushed to the bottom so the drinker mixes it themselves.

Technique

• The drink is credited to Oswald Greenslade in Nassau; the two-rum build, dark plus coconut, is what separates it from a generic rum punch.
• Use fresh juice. Cartoned pineapple juice is flat and sweet and there is nothing else in the glass to hide behind.
• Crushed ice, not cubes: it dilutes as you drink and keeps the grenadine layer from muddling too fast.

Substitutions

• No coconut rum: use 30 ml white rum plus 15 ml cream of coconut, and cut the grenadine to 5 ml.
• Grenadine should be pomegranate-based; the cheap red syrup version tastes of nothing but sugar.

Variations

• Many Nassau bars leave out the coffee liqueur entirely and add 15 ml of 151 rum instead.
• Blended with the crushed ice in a blender, it becomes the frozen Bahama Mama sold all along Cable Beach.

History

A Nassau resort-bar creation of the mid-twentieth century that became the drink most associated with the islands.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bahama Mama?

Bahama Mama is a cocktail from Bahamas: dark and coconut rum with pineapple, orange and grenadine over ice. A Nassau resort-bar creation of the mid-twentieth century that became the drink most associated with the islands.

How long does Bahama Mama take to make?

Bahama Mama takes 5 min of preparation and 0 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 cocktail. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bahama Mama?

Yes, within limits. No coconut rum: use 30 ml white rum plus 15 ml cream of coconut, and cut the grenadine to 5 ml. Grenadine should be pomegranate-based; the cheap red syrup version tastes of nothing but sugar.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bahama Mama?

Pour the grenadine slowly down the inside wall of the glass so it sinks and pools at the base, giving the sunset gradient the drink is known for. Do not stir.