Aku Aku

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (117 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
12 oz Peach schnapps liqueur
1 12 oz Pineapple juice
12 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
34 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
10 fresh Mint leaves
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of skewered pineapple wedge, Luxardo Maraschino Cherry and mint sprigs.
  3. BLEND all ingredients with a 4oz scoop of crushed ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass (help through sieve with a bar spoon).
  5. Garnish with skewered pineapple wedge, cherry and mint sprigs bouquet.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

This Tiki classic looks a little like frozen stagnant pond water but tastes minty fresh and rather good.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Victor Bergeron's 1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (revised edition).

AKU AKU.
Juice of 1 lime
8 or 10 large fresh mint leaves
1 dash rock candy syrup
½ slice pineapple
½ ounce peach liqueur
1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
12-ounce glass of shaved ice
Blend thoroughly in electric drink mixer. Serve in tiki stem pearl glass or large cocktail glass.

Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, 1972

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Yorey C’s Avatar Yorey C
20th February at 23:23
that was really good. goes down easy
Juan Simon’s Avatar Juan Simon
10th June 2024 at 15:39
Pineapple Juice (45ml)
Plantation 3 starts Rum (45ml)
Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur) 15 ml since I don’t have a peach one
Lime Juice: 30ml
Demerara Syrup: 22.5ml
8 mint leaves

Delicious Tiki-style drink. You may need to dial back the sugar if you prefer a less sweet taste, but for me, it's a delicious, summery treat.
Павло Топський’s Avatar Павло Топський
31st March 2024 at 19:38
Absolutely and surprisingly great
Chris Dimal’s Avatar Chris Dimal
24th January 2024 at 11:53
I personally like this more than the similar Missionary's Downfall. Minty freshness mingles well with peach, pineapple and tart lime to make a wonderfully refreshing drink, fit actually for any weather (as long as it's not below 20 degrees Celsius where you are, which is the case for me).
Zach Schwartz’s Avatar Zach Schwartz
11th October 2023 at 01:01
Finally: a splendid use for that bottle of cheap peach schnapps I’ve had kicking around for years!
Evan Miller’s Avatar Evan Miller
19th August 2023 at 00:50
I like the Smuggler’s Cove version. They do a quick blend in a drink mixer, more to quickly stir than to fully blend. It comes out a nice yellow rather than swamp water green. I actually shook mine in Boston shaker. Everything still had presence with a nice nose of mint.
28th July 2023 at 17:32
Great one, the minty flavours combine surprisingly with the pineapple. The result is sweet, if managed to do in large amounts it is an ideal drink for your next summer event. I used peppermint instead of mint, since it is what I have in my garden. The outcome is gentler, which may result in being more likeable for more "amateur" palates
11th September 2022 at 11:33
We made this with fresh mint from the garden... such a clever recipe. Tangy and not too sweet with a clean hint of mint(we reduced the sugar syrup by half)
Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
26th April 2022 at 22:06
Not much into Tiki drinks but I enjoyed this one. Not too sweet and the mint and pineapple play off each other very well. Used El Dorado 3 yr rum
Avatar

Anonymous

26th July 2021 at 01:40
Not too boozy, refreshing, great for a hot day.