Banana Rum Cocktail

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“If you don’t know what to do with a fruit, think of a cocktail”. Henceforward this will be my motto. After the successful Passionfruit Daiquiri and then the fabulous Kiwi with Rum I decided to follow this idea with slightly overripe bananas. They might of course be used in breads, cakes or pancakes, but I wanted something lighter and, moreover, it was Friday night and… cocktail time!

I decided to start with rum, which somehow seemed obvious. Then I added some lime juice to give it a bit of tanginess, mixed everything, tasted and… realised  I have already had this cocktail! In fact, banana and rum used to be my favourite cocktail in my favourite bar, but it was many years ago. I still remember it wasn’t on the cocktails list and when I got bored with gin and tonic I asked the bartender to mix rum with banana juice. The result was stunning and I used to have this cocktail every single time I came. Then, the owner stopped buying banana juice, the bar’s atmosphere changed, I stopped going there and completely forgot about the cocktail because no other bar had this juice. Now that I was reminded how good it tastes, especially when made with freshly mixed fruit, I think this will be my favourite way to use up leftover bananas.

TIP: If you make this cocktail with bottled banana juice, the colour will be much more attractive and the texture “juicier”. Bananas mixed with water give a thick, smoothie-like, not very attractive looking liquid, but the taste and aroma are unique.

Special equipment: small, baby-food mixers are very useful with fresh fruit cocktails (especially when making one or two servings)

Preparation: 5 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

1 big peeled banana

juice from 1/3 lime

50 ml rum

50 ml cold water

ice

In a blender (or a baby food mixer) mix everything apart from the ice.

Pour into a tall glass.

Top up with ice.

Serve.

 

Published by Sissi

46 Replies to “Banana Rum Cocktail”

  1. I vaguely remember having had a banana cocktail before as well – It’s great because I find that the banana kind of “soaks up” the alcohol flavour meaning that it doesn’t taste so alcoholic (which also means it’s “dangerous” because you can easily drink a lot of them!) – beautiful cocktail Sissi, and I love your new motto 😀

    1. Thanks a lot, Charles. I think I will remember my motto every Friday night 😉
      You are right about bananas! You barely feel the alcohol. Of course it’s easy to control when made at home, but then I still have to find a bar where they have bananas or banana juice (not the sticky syrup!). Maybe in some more exotic countries…

  2. “If you don’t know what to do with a fruit, think of a cocktail”
    Excellent philosophy:)
    I’ve only seen banana juice once. Unfortunately I didn’t buy it and when I went back to the shop to buy it I couldn’t find it, never seen it since. It seems very rare.
    Banana and rum sounds like an interesting combination

    1. Forgot to mention, not sure if this matters at all but bananas and rum are generally produced in the same country (Iceland produces bananas but that does not count!). I ‘ve lived in banana/rum producing countries but never seen banana/rum cocktail. People in such countries are not creative, they mix rum and coke:)

      1. I hate rum and coke. I don’t know which is worse for me: rum with coke or whisky with coke. Ok, whisky with coke is worse.
        Iceland producing bananas is a joke, right?

    2. Thank you, Mr. Three-Cookies. It’s quite rare, indeed. The only place I see it are organic shops, but now that I know that banana mixed with water tastes even better, I will never even think of buying the juice.

  3. Oooh … it’s Friday night right now, right here! Good motto to adopt, Sissi! You might have just started something here 🙂
    I never knew bananas could be juiced or that it has any juice. I have some frozen bananas I could whip up into a smoothie in no time! Thanks for the idea! It’s gonna be a great night tonight! mmm-hmm …

    1. Thank you, Ping. I have no idea how they make banana juice, but fresh fruit mixed with water tastes even better. If you have frozen bananas, you won’t even need ice 😉

    1. Thank you, Karen. I’m glad I made you think of some nice places… I find banana juice here only in organic shops (never in bars though), but now I prefer mixing fresh bananas with water. The taste is really better.

  5. “If you don’t know what to do with a fruit, think of a cocktail” haha. When I don’t know what to do with a fruit, I just eat it straight. You definitely have a much more sophisticated appraoch! I actually have tried a combination of rum and banana before, though not in a cocktail, it was in banana, rum n raisin ice cream. heh. much less classy.

    1. Thanks, Shuhan. I meant “when I don’t want to eat it as it is” 😉 I always buy too much fruit and bananas ripen so quickly… I have never had banana ice-cream. It sounds very interesting.

  6. Ooh, the combination of rum and banana sounds so yummy with a hint of lime! I eat bananas all the time (pre-workout favourite ;-)) as well as in desserts but never in a cocktail… I bet it would be delicious. That’s a great tip about the bottle banana juice… I was imagining my usual thick smoothie – yours looks gorgeous!

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. If bananas are mixed with some water, it’s still close to a smoothie, but easier to drink as a cocktail.

  7. One of my favorite cocktails on vacation was a banana daiquiri. This post brought me back to that beach bar in Belize. Thx! I will need to recreate at home.

    1. Thank you so much, Alli. I have probably made a banana daiquiri then 😉 Since I’m not sure, I prefer to call it simply banana and rum just in case someone says it’s not THE real daiquiri! Thanks for visiting my blog!

  9. Sissi, what a great way to start my Friday morning! Thinking about having a cocktail on Friday night after a long week is always a great motivator (Don’t I sound like an alcoholic…) Isn’t it great to figure out how to make a favorite drink/dish on your own? I am not a fan of bananas and a little puzzles as to how do you even get “juice” out of one, but I can definitely imagine lots of people loving this cocktail recipe!

    Have a great weekend!

    1. Thank you so much, Jeno. My Friday drink always marks the beginning of the weekend, so it’s something I look forward too and there is no harm with a weekly cocktail! I’m sure it’s healthier (especially since there is no sugar, only some rum and fresh bananas)than let’s say a weekly McDonald’s menu 😉 Strangely fewer people worry about the latter…
      It’s not really a juice… It’s simply mixed banana with ome water, so something like a “thinner” smoothie. I’m not fan of bananas in cakes, but I love them in salads and other cold desserts. And of course on their own, but now I think I will always prefer the cocktail from any other thing with banana. Have a lovely weekend too!

  10. Great a new cocktail idea! I hadnt tried banana juice with rum but it surely sounds attractive to me. What if u mix some packed juice with some real banana. The taste comes out more and it looks great. thanks for the share Sissi! have anice weekend.

  11. Okay… don’t be surprised with my question, but rum use for cocktail and baking are same? I am talking about the grade/quality. I needed rum for baking but I don’t have it at home. I wonder if it’s same… or you use low grade type of rum for baking. Sorry for silly question. If I ever buy rum for baking (priority), I can try drinking (okay, I mean “sipping”) your rum cocktail…

    1. Hi, Nami. I’m not surprised since you don’t drink a lot. I don’t know about other people (I suppose people call “baking rum the cheapest rum?), but if I think an alcohol is good enough to be drunk, it’s good enough to be put into a cake. Of course I wouldn’t put a very expensive rum into a cake. It would be wasting it, but I would never buy the cheapest one because it simply doesn’t have a nice aroma. I usually buy a 20$ bottles (1 litre). It’s somewhere in the middle. On the other hand even very cheap rum can be good… Just taste it!
      Oh, and I almost never make cocktails with dark rum. It’s very strong and it doesn’t suit many cocktails.

  12. I’ve never seen banana juice, either, but I think the creaminess from the banana would make a lovely cocktail! YUM.

    1. Thank you, Liz. I started to like a lot the thick, almost smoothie-like cocktails (kiwi cocktail was even thicker).

  14. I think this cocktail is one of the easiest I’ve ever seen as far as preparation is concern because it’s not like we need a tool to peel a banana. Sounds refreshing. Thank you, Sissi and happy weekend to you!

    1. Thank you so much, Ray. It is easy indeed! But most of all it is delicious! Have a lovely weekend too!

  16. Well done!!! Rum is always so kind to fruits 🙂 I like to use very ripe bananas for milk shakes (just a little milk, bananas and crashed ice put in a blender spiced up with nutmeg or cinnamon), now I think I should just add lots of rum next time.

  17. I’m not sure it’s possible to buy banana juice here but I love bananas in cocktails. So I’ll get the blender out and use them up. Might have to have more than one – it’s a big bunch of bananas!! GG

  18. Right, Sissi, I’m going to adopt the very same philosophy as you 🙂 I don’t see cocktails with bananas very often, it would be interesting to try!

    1. Thank you, Robert-Gilles. It proved a very good combination, but dangerous indeed.
      I am checking your blog now! Thank you.

  20. I love the way you think Sissi. Looking forward to more cocktail recipes, as you continue with this theme! I actually bought a bunch of kiwis to make your last cocktail, but I kept falling asleep after the kids went to bed and the kiwis went bad. It is still on my list of things to try!

    1. Thank you so much, Barb. I usually don’t have cocktails after the dinner, but before. It’s also a good company in the kitchen while I’m cooking 😉

  21. Ha, Katherine just made a banana cocktail. Bananas aren’t my thing so she got it all to herself. She didn’t mind. I’ll have to show her this.

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