This lime and coconut drink is sweet and sour, creamy and refreshing. It is all the flavors of a key lime pie and a Pina colada, in one delicious drink! This cocktail is gluten free, vegan, and can be made with only natural sugar!
I love a good tropical drink! They make me feel like I am back traveling southeast Asia cruising between islands. While I didn't have anything like this drink when we were in southeast Asia, I had plenty of coconut drinks (and drank out of plenty of coconuts).
This drink is almost like a sour pina colada. Which I love because I find pina coladas to be too sweet - I know this is an unpopular opinion but I am who I am.
This lime and coconut drink has all the delicious flavors of pineapple and coconut but with a burst of lime. And thanks to coconut, it is completely dairy free too! Anyways, enough talking, let's make this delicious tropical cocktail!
Need some more tropical inspirations? Try our Tropical Boba Smoothie, Orange Cranberry Hawaiian Bread Pudding, or our Pineapple Habanero Sauce.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitutes unless otherwise noted.
Frozen Banana: Frozen banana gives this cocktails a super fluffy texture, almost like ice cream! Just be sure to freeze the banana already peeled.
Substitutions: Vanilla or coconut ice cream could be used in place of banana.
Lime Zest and Lime Juice: Of course we need lime juice and zest for this lime drink! We love to use key limes for this drink!
Substitutions: You can skip the zest in a pinch and just use lime just from a jar.
Pineapple Juice: Another must! The pineapple juice adds the perfect amount of sweet so we don't need to add any additional sugar.
Substitutions: We just use pineapple juice drained from a can of pineapples but jarred pineapple juice will work too. Mango or guava juice could be used in place of pineapple as well.
Coconut Milk: Coconut milk gives this the creamy texture. And what is super cool is that it whips into a stiff cream when whipped or blended!
Substitutions: This MUST be the coconut milk from a can and preferably Thai Kitchen brand. You can use regular milk or boxed plant milk but the texture of the drink will be runny.
Coconut Condensed Milk: This is an awesome ingredient I discovered last year. It allows me to enjoy my baked desserts without compromising on flavor. And it is fairly easy to find in store!
Substitutions: Regular condensed milk can be used but the drink will no longer be dairy free.
Rum: We use both dark and white rum for this recipe. When researching, most recipes use white rum. Which is tasty but we liked the added complexity of having two types of rum for two lyres of flavor.
Substitutions: You can use just one type of rum in a pinch. You can also try using coconut liquor but it may be too sweet.
Recipe Testing Notes
Throughout our testing of these salmon patties without cornmeal, we learned some things that worked and didn't work. Here are the key takeaways!
- The more coconut the better: Sugar often helps flavors come through. But, by using coconut condensed milk and coconut milk, you get lots of tropical flavor without needing additional sugar to enhance the subtle pineapple and coconut flavor.
- You don't need the ice but we prefer it: As with any ice based drink, you have to drink it before the ice begins to melt and water down the drink. So, initially we thought we could avoid this by using more frozen banana but that made it too banana flavored. So while you could use more frozen banana in place of ice, the sweet spot for the perfect flavor is some ice and some banana.
How to make this - step by step:
Step one: Prep banana
Be sure to freeze it before starting!
Step two: blend
Add everything to a blender and blend until smooth! Then enjoy with your favorite toppings. Some of ours are coconut whipped cream, lime zest, and graham crackers.
Watch How to Make This - Step by Step
Joy Tip!
Sometimes frozen bananas can be a pain to deal with. So for the best experience, use yellow bananas (not over ripe) and peel them before freezing. I also like to dice them up before freezing to make it easier to fit in the blender.
Common Questions
Yes! Limes are packed with Vitamin C and coconut milk is a great source of healthy fats that will help with sustained energy. I won't go so far to say this drink is healthy for you because it does have liquor and sugar in it. However, it is a great way to enjoy a drink that has less sugar and is dairy free.
You can mix coconut water with just about anything you can mix water with. It is great for smoothies, cocktails, mocktails, sauces (like curry), and just to drink!
It is available at most Walmart's and some grocery stores. I have not found it at Target, Whole Foods, or Costco, yet. Hopefully soon! It can also be purchased from Amazon here.
Unfortunately, no. This drink will become watery as it sits. It is best made and enjoyed fresh.
Fun Fact!
Rum is the oldest spirit in the world, dating back to 1620. In the 18th century, rum was trained as currency because it was so valuable . It was even the drink choice among the elite; the most notably being George Washington. Despite its long history, rum is one of the most elusive spirits. Distillery's are known to keep tight lips when it comes to processing rum. The most notable example of this? Bacardi Rum. Bacardi Rum is still made by the Bacardi family with a recipe passed down 5 generations. (Source)
De-lime-ful Pairings!
See what I did there? In contrast to my terrible pun, her are some great things to serve with this lime and coconut drink.
- Salmon Patties are a light and fresh app or main meal to pair with a lime cocktail.
- Baja Fish Tacos belong on a tropical beach just as much as this coconut lime drink!
- Vegetarian Fajita Bowl is one of my favorite recipes on our site! It has tons of spicy flavor that can be cooled by gulping down this cocktail!
Recipe
Lime Cocktail
Ingredients
- 3 cups ice
- 1 banana frozen
- 2.5 oz lime juice about the juice from 1 lime, or 5 tbsp
- 1 oz pineapple juice or 2 tbsp
- 1 zest of lime
- 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
- ½ cup coconut condensed milk
- 2.5 oz dark rum or 5 tbsp
- 2.5 oz white rum or 5 tbsp
Instructions
- Make sure you banana is peeled and frozen before starting!
- Add all ingredients to the blender and blend well until smooth and creamy. You can add more ice if you like a thicker consistency.
- Enjoy as is or with your favorite toppings. Our favorite is using almond or coconut whip cream, graham crackers, and lime zest.
Optional - To make graham cracker rim:
- Melt dairy free white or dark chocolate in a wide bowl in the microwave for 30 second increments, stirring in between. Repeat until melted.
- Either use a food processor to pulse the graham crackers into a fine powder or place the crackers in a freezer safe (thicker) ziplock bag and crush with a hammer, water bottle, or other hard object to crush the crackers.
- Place graham crackers on a plate next to the melted chocolate.
- Dip the rim of the cup of choice (the cup will be upside down) in the melted chocolate. Spin the glass and “wobble” it slightly to get chocolate evenly coated around the rim and going about ¼” down the from the top of the rim.
- From there, repeat this process but dip the cup in the graham crackers. Again, spin the glass and “wobble” slightly to completely coat the chocolate in graham crackers.
- Place glasses in the freezer until ready to use.
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