The Coconut Room

We love coconut water – especially when we’re drinking it from a freshly cracked open coconut. Coconut water isn’t used in cocktails all that often, largely because it has a very mild flavor and is easy overwhelmed by other ingredients, from full bodied rums to potent citrus. We’ve had a few cocktails that use coconut water very well, but we keep playing around with it and The Coconut Room is one of our latest creations.

We started with coconut water and aged white rum for The Coconut Room. A really smooth white rum is essential for good results in this cocktail, but there are quite a few brands that will work. We used Flor de Cana, but Selvary and El Dorado have excellent white rums that will also give you good results in a drink like this one. The white rum is able to blend with the coconut water without overpowering it. That said, the drink still needed a little bit more dimension, so we added a bit of Lost Spirits Cuban Inspired 151 to the mix. This is one of our favorite overproof rums and it brings in some caramlized tropical fruit and vanilla notes that give the drink a wonderful, but subtle, depth of flavor. Its oaky vanilla element brings out the creaminess in the coconut water, too. Lemon, lime and a touch of cinnamon syrup round out the drink.

This is a fantastic spring and summer drink because it is light, refreshing and the coconut flavor really comes through, but we’re happy to serve it up all year long. If you want to keep the garnish simple, just add a lime wheel (and an orchid!) to the drink before serving. If you want to highlight the cinnamon a big more (and put on a bit of a show), switch out the wheel for a spent lime shell filled with 151 (use Bacardi, not the Lost Spirits) and lit on fire. Toss a few dashes of cinnamon on the fire before serving.

The Coconut Room
1 oz white rum
1/2 oz 151 rum
1/4 oz lime juice
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz cinnamon syrup
2 oz coconut water

Stir all ingredients together in a mixing glass, fill with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a tall collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wheel or a half a spent lime filled with 151 lit on fire and a few extra dashes of cinnamon.