Rum

Navy Grog

Name: Navy Grog
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Old-Fashioned

Donn Beach's three-rum honey-and-citrus grog, served around a frozen ice cone, dressing up the Royal Navy West Indies grog tradition in Hollywood Polynesian Pop.

rum tiki classic mid-century shaken lime grapefruit

Ingredients

honey mix (1 oz)
club soda (0.75 oz)
fresh lime juice (0.75 oz)
white grapefruit juice (0.75 oz)
white Cuban or Puerto Rican rum (1 oz)
gold Demerara rum (1 oz)
dark Jamaican rum (1 oz)
ice cone (1)

"Grog" is a Royal Navy West Indies Station tradition (Admiral Vernon, 1740);¹ Donn borrowed both the name and the rum-and-citrus formula from existing Caribbean naval drinking, then layered honey, three rums, and theatrical ice-cone showmanship on top.² Prepare the frozen cone the night before by freezing water in a copper-pipe mold (or any conical form) so a straw can run through it, Sinatra famously ordered this at the Palm Springs Don the Beachcomber, where ex-Beachcomber bartender Tony Ramos made his Navy Grogs.³

Donn capped Navy Grog service at two drinks per customer, the same limit he'd put on the Zombie, because of its strength. The drink's potency entered court record during Phil Spector's 2007 murder trial for the killing of actress Lana Clarkson: Spector consumed multiple Navy Grogs at Trader Vic's in the Beverly Hilton the night of the shooting, and bartender Ming Fong Chu was called to testify about the drink's strength and the standard two-per-customer cap.⁴

Brand recommendations. Best: El Dorado 12 or Hamilton 86 Demerara for the gold Demerara; Smith & Cross or Coruba for the dark Jamaican; Havana Club 7 (where legal) or Don Q Cristal for the white Cuban/Puerto Rican; raw wildflower honey for the mix. Economical: Hamilton Demerara 86 or Lemon Hart Original; Appleton Estate 8 or Coruba; Plantation 3 Stars or Bacardi Superior; supermarket clover honey works fine.

Instructions

First make honey mix by heating equal parts honey and water until the honey dissolves, then cooling and bottling.
In a shaker combine club soda, fresh lime juice, white grapefruit juice, honey mix, white Cuban or Puerto Rican rum, gold Demerara rum, and dark Jamaican rum.
Shake with ice, then strain into an old-fashioned glass containing a frozen ice cone.
Serve with a straw running through the cone.

Sources

Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum (2006), grog / Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon chapter, documents the 1740 Royal Navy origin of "grog" (rum-water-citrus daily ration) on the West Indies Station and the eponym from Vernon's grogram-cloth coat. ↩
Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Navy Grog chapter, Berry's recovery of Donn Beach's Navy Grog spec, including the honey-mix component and the ice-cone service ritual. ↩
Beachbum Berry, "Navy Grog." https://beachbumberry.com/recipe-navygrog.html (accessed 2026-05-03), Berry's published reconstruction and the source for this file's measurement bill. The Sinatra anecdote is set at the Palm Springs Don the Beachcomber (no DTB Beverly Hills location is documented); bartender Tony Ramos is the link. ↩
People v. Spector trial coverage, 2007, Trader Vic's Beverly Hilton bartender Ming Fong Chu testified to the two-Navy-Grog limit and Spector's consumption pattern the night of Lana Clarkson's death; widely reported in contemporary press. ↩