- Oct 9, 2020
- 2 min read

Blue Hawaii

When you think of awesome tropical drinks, you immediately think of Hawaii. Today we look at a tropical classic straight from island itself. This is the Blue Hawaii.

Not to be confused with the Blue Hawaiian (a completely different drink we will cover in the future) the Blue Hawaii is another sweet light and refreshing Vodka/Rum based cocktail that comes with a stunning ocean blue/green colour that wins over a lot of people.

The Blue Hawaii was invented in 1957 by Harry Yee, legendary head bartender of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Hawaii. This drink was invented when a salesman from of Dutch distiller Bols asked him to design a drink that featured their blue colour of Curaçao liqueur. After experimenting with a few variations, he settled on a design that was a bit different to the version we know today, but includes a Pineapple wedge, a signature blue colour and a cocktail umbrella.

The name “Blue Hawaii” is only indirectly related to the famous Elvis Presley film of the 1960’s and apparently the title comes from the films title song composed by Leo Robin for the 1937 Bing Crosby film Waikiki Wedding. Yee went on to name the drink, which along with many other tropical drinks, songs, films, and Tiki bars such as the famous Trader Vic’s helped popularise Tiki culture both in Hawaii and mainland America. The result of this was a massive increase in tourism in the Waikiki area and Hawaii over time.

So, this drink has its storied history and over the last few decades has remained a memorable favourite amongst fans of tropical and Tiki drinks. There are a few different variations of this drink one of which makes use of crème of coconut , flavoured rums, different glassware, and some that make use of a blending method. So, if you do like this one it may interest you to try out a few versions to see which is your favourite. For now, here is how the classic is made.