Rum

Beachcomber's Gold

Name: Beachcomber's Gold
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Coupe

Donn Beach's three-rum almond-and-Pernod sipper served in an iced champagne saucer.

rum tiki pre-tiki jamaican blended lime

Ingredients

fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
sugar syrup (0.5 oz)
Pernod (6 drops)
almond extract (4 drops)
gold Puerto Rican rum (1 oz)
gold Jamaican rum (0.5 oz)
dark Jamaican rum (0.5 oz)
crushed ice (0.25 cup)

Donn was a notorious tinkerer, and Beachcomber's Gold is the canonical illustration: Beachbum Berry devotes five pages of Remixed to three different but equally authentic versions (Hollywood/Palm Springs, Waikiki, and Chicago), each reflecting a different era of Don the Beachcomber's.¹ There is no single "definitive" recipe, this is the 1937 Hollywood/Palm Springs build, distinguished by its Pernod-and-almond-extract perfume and the signature theater of a thin ice shell frozen into a champagne saucer.²

Brand recommendations. Best: Bacardi 8 or Plantation Grande Reserve 5 for the gold Puerto Rican, Appleton Estate 12 for the gold Jamaican, Smith & Cross or Hampden Estate 8 for the dark Jamaican, Pernod Absinthe, pure McCormick or Nielsen-Massey almond extract. Economical: Don Q Añejo or Bacardi Reserva Ocho for the gold Puerto Rican, Appleton Estate Signature for the gold Jamaican, Hamilton Pot Still Black or Coruba for the dark Jamaican, Herbsaint for the absinthe note.

Instructions

In a blender combine fresh lime juice, sugar syrup, Pernod, almond extract, gold Puerto Rican rum, gold Jamaican rum, dark Jamaican rum, and crushed ice.
Flash-blend on high for .
Strain into a chilled champagne saucer lined with a thin ice shell.

Sources

Berry, Beachbum Berry Remixed (2010), Beachcomber's Gold entry, five-page treatment documenting three distinct authentic versions (Hollywood/Palm Springs, Waikiki, Chicago) recovered from different era Don the Beachcomber bartenders. ↩
"Lost Cocktails of the Mai-Kai: Beachcomber's Gold." The Atomic Grog. https://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2013/06/02/lost-cocktails-of-the-mai-kai-search-for-authentic-recipe-strikes-liquid-gold/ (accessed 2026-05-03), published deep-dive on the 1937 Hollywood/Palm Springs version with the ice-shell service technique; source for this file's measurement bill. ↩