Rum

Mr. Bali Hai

Name: Mr. Bali Hai
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Mr. Bali Hai Mug

The Mr. Bali Hai mug's signature pour, coffee brandy, two rums, and pineapple in a carved moai vessel.

rum tiki tropical mid-century polynesian-pop shaken coffee pineapple

Ingredients

fresh pineapple juice (1.5 oz)
fresh lemon juice (1 oz)
simple syrup (0.5 oz)
coffee brandy (0.75 oz)
light Puerto Rican rum (1 oz)
dark Jamaican rum (1.5 oz)
pineapple wedge
cherry
mint sprig

The Mr. Bali Hai opened with the Bali Hai Restaurant in 1955, named for the South Pacific song.¹ The first credible recipe, the version found by Jeff Berry in the 1980s, is the 1970s coffee-brandy formulation below.² Earlier specs are not reliably documented, and the modern restaurant version uses blackberry liqueur instead.¹^,² The carved Mr. Bali Hai mug from the restaurant's gift shop (a stylized carved-head ceramic; sometimes loosely described in tiki literature as a "moai" but with features distinct from the classic Easter Island figures) is the drink's primary vessel; the ceramic and the pour are inseparable culturally.³

Brand recommendations. Best: Smith & Cross or Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black for the dark Jamaican, Don Q Cristal or Caña Brava for the light Puerto Rican, Patrón XO Cafe as the modern coffee-brandy upgrade, homemade 1:1 simple syrup. Economical: Appleton Estate Signature or Coruba, Bacardi Superior, iconic DeKuyper Coffee Brandy (period-correct), store-bought simple syrup.

Instructions

Combine fresh pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, coffee brandy, light Puerto Rican rum, and dark Jamaican rum in a shaker with ice.
Shake well and pour unstrained into a Mr. Bali Hai mug.

Garnish with a pineapple wedge, cherry, and mint sprig.

Sources

Bali Hai Restaurant, "Our History" / "Drinks." https://balihairestaurant.com/ (accessed 2026-05-03), the venue's own history and current menu, documenting the modern blackberry-liqueur reformulation as well as the 1955 opening. ↩
Berry, Beachbum Berry Remixed (2010), Mr. Bali Hai entry, Berry's recovered 1970s coffee-brandy spec, the basis of the file's measurement bill, with discussion of why earlier specs are not reliably documented. ↩
"Mr. Bali Hai." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bali_Hai (accessed 2026-05-03), supporting context on the carved moai mug, the gift-shop ceramic, and the drink's continuous identity tied to the vessel. ↩