Frozen Hummingbird Cocktail Recipe

If drinking boozy milkshakes sounds like your idea of a delightful afternoon as soon as the weather rises above 80 F, then this recipe might be perfect for you. The frozen hummingbird cocktail is basically a grown-up tropical shake that looks like it came from a beach bar in Jamaica, but actually requires only about 5 minutes of work.

As a recipe developer and blogger who believes that the best desserts are served cold, and preferably with a high proof, discovering the hummingbird cocktail on my latest trip to Belize was a special treat. After chatting with the bartender, I learned that the hummingbird is a popular drink all over the islands of the Caribbean. It has a rich, layered sweetness, but with an edge from the rum that keeps it from tipping firmly into dessert territory, and it's a cocktail that goes down dangerously easy.

At its core, the hummingbird is a combination of bananas, pineapple, and coffee. The frozen bananas and pineapple add flavor while also acting as the ice, giving the drink a rich, frosty texture. We add a coconut rim and a fresh pineapple garnish to make the drink look more put-together than its ease of making would suggest.

To make this drink, you need to make sure you use some forethought so you can freeze your fruit. Start by freezing some ripe bananas and pineapple chunks at least the night before, or preferably 24 hours in advance. To make the drink itself, you'll also need Appleton Estate Signature Rum, a rum cream like RumChata, and a coffee liqueur like Kahlúa. You'll also need ice cubes, lime juice or extra rum cream for rimming the glass, shredded coconut, pineapple wedges, pineapple leaves, and maraschino cherries for garnish. 

Add the frozen bananas, frozen pineapple, rum, rum cream, coffee liqueur, and ice to a blender.

Blend on high until smooth and thick. The texture should be creamy and frosty, similar to a frozen daiquiri.

Spread the shredded coconut on a small plate. Lightly moisten the rims of two glasses with rum cream or lime juice, then dip them into the coconut.

Divide the cocktail between the prepared glasses.

Garnish each cocktail with a pineapple wedge, a pineapple leaf tucked into the side of the glass, and a maraschino cherry.

Serve immediately.

• Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings Recipe
• Baked Jamaican Beef Patty Recipe
• Sheet-Pan Cuban Sliders Recipe
• Homemade Spicy Cheese Straws Recipe
• Jalapeño Popper Dip Recipe

If you're intrigued by the frozen hummingbird cocktail, you're not alone. After trying this fascinating drink, I asked bartenders and scoured the Internet to discover the story behind it — unfortunately, it might be even more opaque than the drink itself. It is certain that the drink is popular all over the Caribbean islands. It's one of the five most popular drinks to order at the Beaches Resorts and one of the seven most popular at the Sandals resorts. Difford's Guide traces it back to the hummingbird Beach Resort in Soufriere, St. Lucia. There are variations of it on hotel and rum companies' websites all over the Caribbean, and as I tried it, even as far as Belize. But as far as its place of birth, the likeliest culprit just might be Jamaica.

The hummingbird Cake is a famous Jamaican cake that combines pineapple and banana. The cake, which was invented in the 1960s, also goes by the name "Doctor Bird Cake," which is the island's national bird. The cake made its way to America when it was published in Southern Living magazine in 1978, becoming the magazine's most popular recipe of all time.

It stands to reason that the cocktail developed as a boozy version of the cake, as it follows the same flavor profile, with rum as the natural Caribbean alcohol. From there, it likely spread through beach bars across the islands, picking up variations along the way. 

As long as you stick to the building blocks of this frozen cocktail — rum, banana, and pineapple — there is plenty of room for experimentation and play with the hummingbird. After all, fun in the sun is the most natural thing you can do with a frozen Caribbean sipper.

First, we like to play with the rum. While a rum like Appleton Estate gives it classic Jamaican character, a dark rum like Myers's can make the drink deeper and more molasses-forward. You can instead add a spiced rum for warmth and an additional nutmeg note. And if you want to skip the coffee liqueur, we found that a cold brew concentrate with a splash of honey syrup was a perfect stand-in.

To make the drink more dessert-forward, you can add a splash of coconut cream or even coconut milk. I've also been known to add strawberries to the blend, giving it a bit more of an acidic hit that balances out all the sweetness. Another fun twist is to dip the rim of the glass in caramel and to roll it in crushed graham crackers mixed with coconut, to bring in more of that original hummingbird cake flavor.

• Tropical Painkiller Cocktail Recipe
• Creamy Coquito Recipe
• Our Best Spicy Jalapeño Margarita Cocktail Recipe
• Frozen Zombie Cocktail Recipe
• Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Recipe