Key Largo Cooler - photo B. C. Hill

I finally found it! The perfect simple summer cocktail. I stayed in Key Largo from October to May one year when we were heading for Key West. In order to “chill out” for a few minutes, we stopped at a Key Largo tiki bar for just one Caribbean-style refresher. Nine months later we headed back to Toronto.

.

I learned from writer Mark Newman that they make a similar drink, different spelling, at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The setting is ideal at Beau’s Pool Bar, with palm  trees swaying in the gentle breeze that dances across the pristine gulf coast.

.

Since this cooler has only 4 ingredients, plus optional garnish, it is perfect for boaters, campers and those summer cabin days.

.

Key Largo Cooler

Ingredients
1 oz DeKuyper Key Largo Schnapps
2 oz rum. Beau’s and I prefer 10 Cane Rum from Trinidad
1/12 pineapple juice
1-1/2 oz orange juice, try fresh squeezed.
Method
Just shake it all together and pour over ice.

Optional garnish with a fresh pineapple wedge. Or use what ever is on hand, like I did, with a cherry, lime wedge, orange wheel, mint or basil leaves.

Cheers to a tropical summer. This drink is the color of a Key Largo sunset.

Brenda C. Hill
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success With Writing Where And What in the World