Gin

Royal Hawaiian

Name: Royal Hawaiian
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Coupe

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel's Princess Kaiulani, gin, pineapple, lemon, and orgeat in a chilled coupe.

gin classic pre-tiki hawaiian pineapple orgeat shaken

Ingredients

fresh pineapple juice (1 oz)
fresh lemon juice (0.5 oz)
orgeat syrup (0.5 oz)
gin (1.5 oz)
pineapple frond (1)
brandied cherry (1)

Originally known as the Princess Kaiulani; the hotel adopted the name "Royal Hawaiian" for the cocktail in the 1950s.¹ Earliest published recipes use a "1 jigger / ⅓ jigger / 1 tsp" form which modern conversions standardize.² This file uses 0.5 oz orgeat and 1 oz pineapple; the original 1920s Moana/Royal Hawaiian Hotel spec was closer to 1 tsp orgeat with a full 1.5 oz jigger of pineapple, so adjust to taste if you want a more pineapple-forward profile.³

Brand recommendations. Best: Tanqueray No. Ten or Plymouth Gin (both align with the late-1920s London dry profile); B.G. Reynolds or Small Hand Foods orgeat; fresh-pressed unsweetened pineapple juice; Luxardo brandied cherries for garnish. Economical: Beefeater or Tanqueray London Dry; Liber & Co. or Fee Brothers orgeat; Dole canned unsweetened pineapple juice; supermarket maraschino cherries (or Luxardo as the modest upgrade).

Instructions

In a shaker combine fresh pineapple juice (unsweetened), fresh lemon juice, orgeat syrup, and gin with ice.
Shake well until thoroughly chilled.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass or champagne saucer.
Garnish with a pineapple frond or brandied cherry.

Sources

"Royal Hawaiian Hotel." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hawaiian_Hotel (accessed 2026-05-03), confirms the Royal Hawaiian opened on 1 February 1927 in Waikiki. The cocktail's "Princess Kaiulani" original-name and 1950s renaming history come from broader tiki-cocktail literature (Berry / Imbibe) rather than from this specific Wikipedia entry, which documents only the hotel itself. ↩
Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Hawaiian-hotel cocktails chapter, frames the early-printed "1 jigger / ⅓ jigger / 1 tsp" form and the modern conversion practice this file follows. ↩
"Royal Hawaiian." Imbibe Magazine. https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/royal-hawaiian-recipe/ (accessed 2026-05-03), modern published spec citing the 1950s hotel-published recipe; the source for this file's measurement bill. ↩