Rum

Castaway

Name: Castaway
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Pilsner

Beachbum Berry's three-ingredient pineapple-coffee-rum cooler, evolved from a New York shot into a tall tiki sleeper.

rum tiki modern-craft shaken tropical jamaican

Ingredients

fresh pineapple juice (3 oz)
Kahlúa (0.75 oz)
gold Jamaican rum (1.5 oz)
crushed ice (0.5 cup)
pineapple wedge (1)
maraschino cherry (1)

Berry has told the story repeatedly: the Castaway grew out of a faux-tropical shot called the Jamaican Dust that he used to pour at Dorrian's Red Hand Bar on the Upper East Side.¹ He stretched the Jamaican Dust into a long drink by cutting back the pineapple and Kahlúa, swapping the dark rum for gold Jamaican, and shaking instead of blending.² The result reads as a much older drink than it is, pineapple and coffee liqueur dovetail into a creamy, almost cold-brew note that flatters whatever Jamaican pot-still you pour. Notably modest in proof for a Berry original, which is part of the joke.

Brand recommendations. Best: Appleton Estate 8 or Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve for the gold Jamaican rum; Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur (the canonical pour); fresh-pressed pineapple juice. Economical: Appleton Estate Signature for the Jamaican; Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur as a less-sweet alternative to Kahlúa; canned Dole pineapple juice acceptable.

Instructions

In a shaker combine fresh pineapple juice, Kahlúa, and gold Jamaican rum.
Add crushed ice and shake hard for .
Pour unstrained into a chilled pilsner glass.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry on the rim.

Sources

Berry, Grog Log (1998), Castaway entry (p. 25), Berry's first publication of the Castaway with the Dorrian's Red Hand Bar / Jamaican Dust origin story. ↩
Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Berry-original chapter, documents the Castaway's evolution from the Dorrian's shot to the long drink form; this file's three-ingredient measurement bill is the modern Berry spec. ↩
Beachbum Berry. https://beachbumberry.com/publication-sippin-safari.html (accessed 2026-05-03), Berry's canonical web home for the Castaway and the Sippin' Safari republication.