Liquid Marijuana

What is Liquid Marijuana?

The Liquid Marijuana belongs to the family of provocatively named novelty cocktails that became a fixture of American college bars and beach bar culture through the 1990s and early 2000s, alongside drinks like the Adios Motherfucker, the Alien Urine Sample, and the Incredible Hulk — all built around the same principle of combining brightly coloured liqueurs to create a visually striking drink whose name was designed to generate a reaction when ordered. The defining ingredient in the Liquid Marijuana is Midori, the Japanese melon liqueur produced by Suntory that was famously launched at a lavish party at Studio 54 in New York in 1978, making it one of the few spirits with a documented celebrity debut. Midori's vivid electric green colour made it enormously popular throughout the 1980s and 90s as a visual tool in cocktails, and its melon sweetness paired naturally with coconut rum, blue curaçao, and pineapple juice to produce tropical combinations that were as appealing to the eye as they were to the palate. The Liquid Marijuana takes those four ingredients and adds spiced rum for depth and sweet and sour mix for the tartness that balances the drink's considerable sweetness, resulting in a vivid green cocktail that earns its name entirely through colour rather than any herbal or botanical character.

Don't forget to see what other drinks you can make with the ingredients you already have in your bar.

Taste profile

The Liquid Marijuana is tropical, sweet, and unapologetically fruity — a drink designed for maximum approachability and visual impact rather than complexity. Midori leads the palate with its distinctive honeydew melon sweetness, which is candy-like and immediately recognisable, while coconut rum adds a warm, nutty tropical richness that deepens the fruit character considerably. Blue curaçao contributes a bitter orange note that provides the only real counterbalance to the sweetness, and its interaction with Midori's yellow-green produces the vivid turquoise-green colour that gives the drink its name. Spiced rum adds a subtle warmth and vanilla-and-cinnamon depth in the background that stops the drink from tasting flat or one-dimensional, while sweet and sour mix provides the citrus tartness that keeps each sip feeling fresh. Pineapple juice floated on top adds a final layer of bright tropical fruitiness that softens the sweet and sour's sharpness. The overall profile is bold, sweet, and vividly tropical — exactly what the name and the colour promise.

Serving suggestions

Shake all ingredients except the pineapple juice vigorously with ice, strain into a tall glass over fresh ice, then top with pineapple juice without stirring — this preserves a slight colour gradient between the green base and the pale yellow juice that makes the drink more visually dynamic before it blends together. For a shot version, combine all ingredients including the pineapple juice in equal parts in a shaker, shake briefly, and strain into a shot glass — this is how the drink is most commonly served in bars and produces a more concentrated, sweeter result. A pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry on a skewer make the natural garnish, and a paper cocktail umbrella leans fully into the tropical beach bar aesthetic that the drink embodies. For parties, this cocktail batches very well — multiply all ingredients proportionally in a pitcher, refrigerate without ice, and pour over ice to order, adding the pineapple juice float individually per glass at serving time.

Why You'll Love It?

Ingredients for Liquid Marijuana

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Step‑by‑Step Instructions

1. Fill a tall highball glass with fresh ice cubes and set it aside while you prepare the drink. A pre-chilled glass keeps the Liquid Marijuana colder for longer and prevents the ice from melting too quickly into the finished cocktail.
2. Fill a shaker halfway with ice. Add coconut rum, spiced rum, blue curaçao, and Midori. These form the flavour core: tropical sweetness, depth, and the orange bitterness that drives the green colour.
3. Pour in the sweet and sour mix. This ties the spirits together and balances sweetness. Substitute with equal parts fresh lime juice and simple syrup for a sharper, more natural citrus note.
4. Shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds until the shaker is frosty cold. A thorough shake emulsifies the Midori and coconut rum with the sour mix for a cohesive, well-integrated result.
5. Strain into the ice-filled highball glass, filling three-quarters full. The colour should now be a vivid turquoise-green from the Midori and blue curaçao reacting together.
6. Pour pineapple juice slowly over the back of a bar spoon. This creates a two-tone gradient before blending and adds a tropical brightness that lifts the finished drink.
7. Add a pineapple wedge on the rim and a maraschino cherry on a pick. Serve immediately. Do not stir after the pineapple float if you want to preserve the gradient for presentation.