Best Recipes for National Rum Day

You don’t need a tropical beach or poolside vacation to enjoy a sweet, tropical rum cocktail. Rock legend and spirits trailblazer, Sammy Hagar, encourages rum lovers everywhere to celebrate National Rum Day on Aug. 16 with a taste of his award-winning Puerto Rican-made Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.

Sammy’s top-shelf rum comes in three award-winning varieties: Sammy’s Platinum Rum is the perfect white rum pairing in a piña colada and a masterful mix in a mojito; Sammy’s Red Head Rum, infused with macadamia nut flavor, is a colorful dash of delightful tropical infusion for a daiquiri; and Sammy’s Kola Spiced Rum, made with Kola nut extract, is great for sipping as well as to enhance your favorite summer libation. Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum is available at a retailer near you or may be ordered on their website.

For those who like piña coladas but don’t like getting caught in the rain, we invite you to stay home and show off your mixologist skills to friends and family with the help of Sammy’s best selling cocktail book, Sammy Hagar’s Greatest Cocktail Hits, featuring 85 of the Red Rocker’s favorite cocktail recipes. In order to mark rum’s big day Sammy is sharing five of favorites recipes ranging from mai tai’s to piña coladas, all the way to daring fusions of iconic favorites - yum! 

Additionally, don’t forget that the best way to enjoy portable rum fun this National Rum Day is found within every can of Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktails, the top-shelf sparkling rum cocktails are tasty and make for an excellent way to mark the occasion!

Without any further ado, let’s get into the recipes!

Read Head Mai Tai 

The Red Head Mai Tai is everything good about one of the quintessential drinks of the tropics with Sammy’s added flare. The exotic notes of fruit and macadamia nut imbued into the Red Head Rum mix with the lime and pineapple juice to create a drink so worthy of praise Sammy himself poured it for Rachel Ray on her show. 

Read Head Mai Tai Recipe

• 1 1/2 ounces Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum 

• 1/2 ounce triple sec (or any high-quality orange liqueur) 

• 1/2 ounce Orgeat syrup 

• 1 ounce fresh lime juice 

• 1/2 ounces fresh pineapple juice 

• Drizzle of Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Rum 

• Garnish: Fresh pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, fresh mint sprig and paper umbrella

Preparation: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the Beach Bar Rum, triple sec, orgeat syrup, lime juice and pineapple juice. Shake well and strain into a rocks or snifter glass filled with ice. Drizzle a little of Sammy’s Red Head Rum over the top. Garnish with a fresh pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, fresh mint sprig and paper umbrella.

Pineapple Piña Colada

A sweet twist on the typical Piña Colada that will serve up Aloha, the Pineapple Piña Colada is made with Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum, Coco López Piña Colada Mix and fresh pineapple juice. This tasty tropical gem will have you daydreaming of the sun, sand and surf of Hawaii.

 Pineapple Piña Colada Recipe

• 1 1/2 ounces Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum

• 2 ounces Coco López Piña Colada Mix 

• 1 1/2 ounce fresh pineapple juice 

• Garnish: 2 fresh lime wheels and a chunk of fresh pineapple 

Preparation: Fill a blender with ice and add the rum, piña colada mix, and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth and creamy and pour into a coupe or margarita glass. Garnish with fresh lime wheels and a fresh pineapple chunk. 

Mojito Rising

The Mojito Rising is Sammy’s special mojito recipe that blends the flavors of Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum and Red Head rums together to create a mouthwatering drink. The romance of these two spirits combined with berry flavors and the traditional mojito ingredients of mint, lime and soda water make for one of Sammy’s personal favorites to mix up for small get-togethers. 

 Mojito Rising Recipe

• 1 1/2 ounces Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum 

• 1/2 Sammy’s Red Head Rum

• 3 fresh raspberries

• 4-6 fresh mint leaves 

• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 

• Soda water, as needed 

• Garnish: fresh watermelon slice, lime wheel, mint sprig 

Preparation: In a cocktail shaker, add the raspberries, mint leaves and lime. Using a muddler, gently (yet firmly) muddle the ingredients. Add both rums and shake lightly. Pour into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with soda water and garnish with a slice of fresh water - melon’ lime wheel and mint sprig. 

Can’t Drive 55

Named after Sammy’s smash hit from the summer of 1984, Can’t Drive 55 is a beautiful marriage of Sammy’s two spirit lines Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum and Santo Tequila. Assisted by a slew of other libations and juices, the result is a potent party-in-your-mouth of flavors that work together to create a stunning cocktail that has been a long time favorite at Sammy’s restaurant ventures. 

Can’t Drive 55 Recipe

• 1/2 ounce Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum 

• 1/2 ounce Santo Tequila Blanco 

• 1/2 ounce vodka

• 1/2 ounce gin 

• 1/2 ounce amaretto 

• 1/2 ounce cranberry juice 

• 1/2 fresh orange juice 

• 1/2 ounce fresh pineapple juice 

• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 

• 1 splash  grenadine 

• Garnish: Fresh orange wedge maraschino cherry

Preparation: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the rum, tequila, gin and amaretto followed by cranberry, orange, pineapple, and lime juices. Finish with a splash of grenadine. Shake well and pour the entire contents into an old fashioned or rocks glass. Garnish with a fresh orange wedge and maraschino cherry.

Macadamia Piña-Jito

The Macadamia Piña-Jito is a unique and bold fusion of a piña colada and mojito. Made with Beach Bar Platinum and Red Head rums, mint, cream of coconut, soda water, lime juice, pineapple juice and bitters, the Red Head rum float adds the flavor and notes of macadamia nuts, which are steeped into the rum tanks during the final stages of making the rum. 

 Macadamia Piña-Jito 

• 1 ounce Sammy’s Beach Bar Platinum Rum

• 1 ounce Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Rum

• 4 fresh mint leaves

• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 

• 3 ounces Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut 

• 4 fresh pineapple chunks 

• Soda water, as needed

• 2 or 3 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters

• Garnish: toasted coconut, fresh pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry

Preparation: Add mint leaves to the bottom of a hurricane glass. Using a muddler, gently (yet firmly) muddle the mint, add lime juice and set aside. In a blender, add a couple handfuls of ice along with the cream of coconut, pineapple chunks and Beach Bar Platinum Rum. Purée until blended. Pour into the hurricane glass that contains the mint and lime juice, then top with soda water. Float the Beach Bar Red Head Rum on top along with two dashes of bitters. Garnish with toasted coconut, fresh pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry. 

Looking to go out for National Rum Day? 

In addition to these awesome recipes, those in the Orange County and Vegas areas that aren’t as sure of their mixologist skills can head on down to the newly opened Cabo Wabo Beach Club at the Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach or Cabo Wabo Cantina on the Vegas strip. Sammy’s restaurants offer a slew of premium rum cocktails all made with Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.

Cheers & Happy National Rum Day!