Coconut Liqueur
Coconut liqueur is spirit flavoured with coconut and sweetened, usually made on a white rum base and bottled at about 21% ABV. Bottles often say coconut rum, but at that strength they cannot be rum under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, which sets rum at 37.5% or more and forbids flavouring it. It brings coconut aroma and sugar to a drink, but none of the fat found in cream of coconut.
Quick Facts
Store upright in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Reseal tightly after use.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Coconut is outside the UK's 14 listed allergens. Cream-based coconut liqueurs contain milk: check the bottle.
About Coconut Liqueur
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Sweet coconut aroma with soft tropical notes and a light, clean finish. Less rich and less creamy than coconut cream, with a thinner mouthfeel.
Coconut liqueur is spirit, flavouring and sugar
Coconut liqueur takes a spirit, usually white rum, flavours it with coconut and sweetens it. To count as a liqueur it needs 15% ABV and 100g/L of sugar at the least, and most coconut bottles sit near 21%. Malibu, developed in the late 1970s and owned by Pernod Ricard since 2005 by the Oxford Companion’s account, is 21%, made from Caribbean rum, sugar and coconut flavouring on its owner’s site.
Coconut rum is a liqueur in law
The GB rum definition demands 37.5% ABV at the least and forbids flavouring. A coconut product at 21% fails both tests, so it is not a rum whatever the front label suggests; Malibu, for one, lists Caribbean rum, water, sugar and coconut flavouring, with 18.1g of sugar per 100ml, enough for a liqueur. Read that wording as a note on where the alcohol came from.
Coconut liqueur against its neighbours (minimum strengths from Regulation (EC) No 110/2008; typical strengths, sweetness and texture are ours)
Coconut liqueur
- Strength
- About 21% (15% minimum)
- Sweetened
- Yes
- Texture
- Thin
- Job in a drink
- Coconut aroma and sugar
White rum
- Strength
- 40% (37.5% minimum)
- Sweetened
- Not usually
- Texture
- Thin
- Job in a drink
- The spirit base
Cream of coconut
- Strength
- None
- Sweetened
- Yes, heavily
- Texture
- Thick
- Job in a drink
- Body and sugar in blended drinks
Coconut milk
- Strength
- None
- Sweetened
- No
- Texture
- Rich
- Job in a drink
- Body without sugar
| Bottle or tin | Strength | Sweetened | Texture | Job in a drink |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coconut liqueur | About 21% (15% minimum) | Yes | Thin | Coconut aroma and sugar |
| White rum | 40% (37.5% minimum) | Not usually | Thin | The spirit base |
| Cream of coconut | None | Yes, heavily | Thick | Body and sugar in blended drinks |
| Coconut milk | None | No | Rich | Body without sugar |
The two tins have their own pages: cream of coconut for thick, sweet blended drinks, and coconut milk where body is wanted without sugar.
Thirty millilitres flavours a long rum drink
In our Bahama Mama, 30ml of coconut rum sits with 30ml dark rum, 15ml overproof, pineapple, orange, lime and grenadine, shaken hard, 10 to 12 seconds, then poured through the strainer over crushed ice. The coconut is soft at that measure, a note in the fruit rather than the lead. Pour more and the coconut leads; use it with no citrus and the drink turns cloying.
Clear bottles and cream bottles differ on allergens
UK allergen labelling covers 14 foods, and the tree nuts the rules name leave coconut out. Malibu’s listed allergens include none of the 14. Cream liqueurs flavoured with coconut contain milk and, in our experience, keep less well once opened, so read the label on any bottle you have not bought before.
Using Coconut Liqueur
Usage
Our Bahama Mama pours 30ml, shaken with dark and overproof rum, pineapple, orange, lime and grenadine, and the coconut is the note people remember. Elsewhere, 15 to 30ml flavours a rum and pineapple drink; it adds sweetness, so trim any syrup beside it.
Pro Tip
If a coconut drink tastes flat, add lime before more liqueur. A few millilitres more acid lifts the coconut aroma further than an extra 10ml of sweet liqueur, which mainly makes the drink heavier.
Top Tips
- Check the strength on the label. Most coconut rum sits near 21%, so it carries far less alcohol than a measure of rum.
- Keep it apart from cream of coconut, on the shelf and in the recipe. One flavours; the other thickens and sweetens.
- Pour it with something sharp: lime or pineapple keeps the coconut from tasting of sun cream.
- A cream liqueur with coconut is a different bottle. It contains milk and follows its own label for keeping once opened.
Possible Substitutions
- White Rum: With coconut extract: a home approximation
Production Method
Produced by infusing or flavouring alcohol with coconut extract or coconut distillate, then sweetening and filtering before bottling.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is coconut liqueur?
Is coconut rum actually rum?
How strong is coconut liqueur?
Is there a coconut cream liqueur?
What is the difference between coconut liqueur and cream of coconut?
What drinks use coconut liqueur?
Does coconut liqueur go off?
Sources.
Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (retained)”.
- Pernod Ricard, “Malibu” (owner’s brand page with the nutrition panel (Malibu Original 21% vol.; 18.1g sugars per 100ml; no allergens)).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Jeff Berry), “Malibu” (secondary source: developed in the late 1970s, launched in the UK in 1980; first bottled at 28% ABV, 24% in 1987, 21% since 2001; acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2005).
Made with Coconut Liqueur
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Updated 19 October 2026