Captain Morgan Drinks: Easy Recipes With Coke, Pineapple Juice and Cider
A friend bought a bottle of Captain Morgan for a July cookout, and it came back to our kitchen in October still half full. That happens to a lot of spiced rum. The fix is cheap, quick and mostly two ingredients long.
Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum is a Caribbean rum flavored with vanilla and warm baking spice. In the US it is bottled at 35% ABV, or 70 proof. That is a little lower than a standard 40% rum, so it mixes soft and sweet. The brand takes its name from Henry Morgan, the 17th-century Welsh privateer. The same company sells Parrot Bay, its coconut and fruit-flavored line. Between them they show up in well over three hundred drinks in our database.
Spiced rum smells like the inside of a bakery this time of year. Vanilla, a little clove, something like caramel. Every drink below is trying to either lean into that or lighten it.
Two-ingredient Captain drinks
These are the drinks we make on a weeknight without thinking about it. Each one is a pour over ice and a stir.
| Drink | What’s in it | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Captain and Coke | 1½ oz Original Spiced Rum, 4½ oz Coca-Cola | Cola already tastes of vanilla and spice, so the rum blends right in |
| Captain Bucci | 2 oz Original Spiced Rum, 5 oz Canada Dry ginger ale | Ginger gives the sweetness a gentle bite |
| Captain’s and Creme | 1½ oz Original Spiced Rum, 3 oz cream soda | Vanilla on vanilla, like a grown-up float |
| Hard Root Beer | 2 oz Original Spiced Rum, 12 oz IBC root beer | Root beer’s wintergreen meets the clove |
| Captain Pepper | 1 shot Original Spiced Rum, 6 oz Dr Pepper | Dr Pepper’s cherry note flatters the spice |
The Captain and Coke is the one most people know, and it deserves the reputation. We like a squeeze of lime in ours. It isn’t in the recipe, but it wakes the whole glass up.
Captain Morgan with ginger beer
Ginger beer is spicier and less sweet than ginger ale. It might be our favorite partner for the Captain. We pour two ounces of spiced rum over ice, top it with about four ounces of ginger beer and squeeze in a lime wedge. It is close to a Dark ’n Stormy in spirit, only softer and rounder. It goes down easily after an afternoon of raking leaves.
Captain Morgan with pineapple juice
Pineapple and spiced rum are an old match. The fruit’s acidity keeps the vanilla from getting cloying. The simplest version is the Hula Bob, equal parts Captain Morgan, pineapple juice and orange juice stirred in a tall glass of ice. It tastes like a beach drink that remembered to bring a sweater.
When we want something creamier, there’s the Captain’s Colada. Blend an ounce and a quarter of Original Spiced Rum with three ounces of pineapple juice, a measure of cream of coconut and crushed ice. If the Parrot Bay bottle is the one in the cabinet, the Parrot Bay Pinada is just the coconut rum and five ounces of pineapple juice over ice. The coconut rum relatives get their own roundup in our Malibu rum cocktails post.
For October evenings
Apple cider is where Captain Morgan earns its place in fall. The Captain’s Spiced Cider is two ounces of spiced rum and ten of apple cider, over ice or not. Heat the cider instead and you have Cinnamon Toast, served in a glass rimmed with sugar and cinnamon. It smells exactly like its name. We make a pot of it on the first night the furnace kicks on.
Party builds
The Hula Bob scales beautifully because it is equal parts. One 750 ml bottle of Captain Morgan plus 750 ml each of pineapple and orange juice fills a large pitcher. That comes to roughly 12% alcohol before the ice goes in. As the ice melts it drifts toward 9%, about a strong craft beer. We set out sliced oranges and a bowl of ice beside it and let everyone pour their own.
A few Captain Morgan shots
The Captain’s Treasure pours an ounce of Captain Morgan and an ounce of Goldschläger into one glass. Cinnamon heat lands on top of vanilla. The Slippery Sailor pairs the Captain with Baileys. The Maple Syrup Shot stirs it with butterscotch schnapps until it really does taste like pancakes. Our rum shots list has plenty more.
For ideas beyond this one brand, the guide to what to mix with spiced rum works for any bottle in the style. If the Captain is the only rum in the house, CocktailBuilder can check it against the rest of your fridge and show what’s possible tonight.
Because the Captain is 35% rather than 40%, a Captain and Coke at the recipe’s one-to-three ratio comes out a little under 9% before the ice melts. That’s gentler than the same drink made with a standard rum. If yours tastes flat, add lime before you add more rum.
Last modified on October 4, 2026
