A bottle of Bacardi is the start of more drinks than almost any other spirit on the shelf. Bacardi Superior is a light, dry white rum, which means it rarely takes over a drink: it carries lime, mint, pineapple, and cola instead of competing with them. That makes it the right rum for most of the classic rum cocktails, and for the easy two-ingredient drinks you can make without a shaker.
Bacardi Drinks at a Glance
Strength and calories are per serving, from the recipe data behind each drink's recipe card.
| Drink | What goes in with the Bacardi | ABV | Calories | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba Libre | Cola, lime | 10.5% | 250 kcal | Easy |
| Mojito | Mint, lime, sugar, soda water | 12% | 205 kcal | Medium |
| Daiquiri | Lime, sugar | 20.5% | 186 kcal | Easy |
| Bacardi Cocktail | Lime, grenadine | 18.5% | 170 kcal | Easy |
| Piña Colada | Pineapple juice, coconut cream | 12% | 174 kcal | Medium |
| Hemingway Special | Grapefruit, maraschino, lime | 17% | 182 kcal | Easy |
| Mary Pickford | Pineapple juice, grenadine, maraschino | 15.5% | 180 kcal | Easy |
| Mai Tai | Gold rum, orgeat, triple sec, lime | 20.5% | 292 kcal | Medium |
| Strawberry Daiquiri | Strawberries, strawberry liqueur, lime | 11.5% | 200 kcal | Easy |
| Frozen Daiquiri | Lime, triple sec, crushed ice | 9% | 205 kcal | Medium |
| Bahama Mama | Dark rum, banana liqueur, pineapple, orange | 12.5% | 280 kcal | Easy |
| Rum Punch | Orange juice, fruit punch, ginger ale | 9% | 210 kcal | Easy |
What to Mix with Bacardi (No Recipe Needed)
The simplest Bacardi drink is one part rum to three parts mixer over plenty of ice, with a squeeze of lime. For a standard highball that's 50 ml (1.7 oz) of Bacardi topped with 150 ml (5 oz) of mixer. The mixers that work best:
- Cola makes a rum and Coke; add the lime and it becomes a Cuba Libre.
- Ginger beer or ginger ale adds spice and bite. Ginger beer is sharper, ginger ale sweeter.
- Soda water gives the lightest, least sweet drink. Use plenty of lime.
- Pineapple juice is the natural partner for white rum; it's the base of half the tropical drinks below.
- Orange juice makes a rum screwdriver, softer than the vodka version.
- Lemon-lime soda (Sprite, 7 Up) makes a sweet, easy cooler.
Lime is the one thing to keep on hand. Fresh lime is what turns rum and a mixer into something that tastes like a cocktail.
The 12 Best Cocktails with Bacardi
1. Cuba Libre
The easiest cocktail on the list and the best starting point. The Cuba Libre is Bacardi, cola, and fresh lime juice, built in a highball glass over ice. The lime matters more than it looks: without it you have a rum and Coke, with it the cola's sweetness gets cut and the drink tastes brighter. Squeeze the lime wedge into the glass and drop it in, so the peel oils go in too.
2. Mojito
White rum, fresh mint, lime, sugar, and soda water. The Mojito is where Bacardi's clean flavor pays off, since a heavier rum would muddy the mint. The technique that makes or breaks it is a gentle muddle: press the mint to release its oils rather than shredding it. Our mojito guide covers the muddle, the ice, and the most common mistakes.
3. Daiquiri
Just rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar, shaken hard and served straight up. The classic Daiquiri is the best test of any white rum because there's nothing to hide behind. At 20.5% ABV it's one of the stronger drinks here, and one of the quickest to make: three ingredients, a shaker, and about three minutes.
4. Bacardi Cocktail
A Daiquiri with grenadine, which turns it pink and adds a light berry sweetness. The Bacardi Cocktail is one of the few drinks legally tied to a brand: in 1936 a New York court ruled that it must be made with Bacardi rum to use the name. Shake the rum, lime, and grenadine with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
5. Piña Colada
Bacardi, pineapple juice, and coconut cream, shaken or blended with ice. The Piña Colada is creamier and sweeter than anything else on the list and sits at a moderate 12% ABV. Use coconut cream, not coconut milk: it's thicker and sweeter, and it's what gives the drink its texture.
6. Hemingway Special
A Daiquiri reworked with grapefruit and maraschino liqueur, and much drier than most rum drinks. The Hemingway Special is for people who find rum cocktails too sweet: the grapefruit keeps it tart and the maraschino adds a faint bitter-cherry note. Shake and serve straight up.
Bacardi on the shelf, but not sure what else you need?
Pocket Bartender shows every drink you can make with the bottles you already have.
7. Mary Pickford
Bacardi and pineapple juice, with a small amount of grenadine and maraschino liqueur. The Mary Pickford is a Prohibition-era Cuban classic, softer and fruitier than a Daiquiri. If you already have pineapple juice and grenadine for other drinks, the only extra bottle it needs is maraschino, and you can leave that out for a simpler version.
8. Mai Tai
The famous tiki drink, and a good use for Bacardi alongside a darker rum. The Mai Tai splits the rum between white and gold, then adds lime, orange liqueur, and orgeat, an almond syrup that gives it a nutty, marzipan-like sweetness. It's the most complex drink here and the highest in calories at 292 kcal.
9. Strawberry Daiquiri
Fresh strawberries, strawberry liqueur, Bacardi, and lime. The Strawberry Daiquiri is sweeter and much lighter than the classic, at 11.5% ABV. Muddle or blend the strawberries first, then shake with the rest, and fine-strain if you don't want seeds in the glass.
10. Frozen Daiquiri
The classic Daiquiri blended with crushed ice and a little triple sec. The Frozen Daiquiri is the lowest-strength cocktail in the list at 9% ABV, because the ice dilutes it as it blends. Blend just until smooth: blending too long melts the ice and gives you a thin slush instead of a frozen drink.
11. Bahama Mama
A big, fruity tiki-style drink: white and dark rum, banana liqueur, pineapple and orange juice, grenadine, and sweet and sour mix. The Bahama Mama is sweet and easy to drink, which is also its risk, since two rums add up. Serve it over ice in a tall glass.
12. Rum Punch
The Bacardi drink for a crowd. This Rum Punch mixes a bottle of white rum with frozen orange juice concentrate, frozen fruit punch concentrate, and ginger ale in a punch bowl. At 9% ABV it's light enough to serve all evening. Add the ginger ale just before guests arrive so it stays fizzy.
Which Bacardi Drink Should You Start With?
If you have only a bottle of Bacardi and a fridge, make a Cuba Libre or pour it over ice with pineapple juice. If you have fresh limes, make a Daiquiri, the drink that shows what the rum tastes like. If you have mint, make a Mojito. For a party, the Rum Punch scales to a bowl with no bar tools.
For more rum ideas beyond Bacardi, browse the full rum cocktails collection.