Long Island’s Best Tiki Cocktail Is Now in Northport
Updated: 2 hours ago
The best tiki cocktail on Long Island right now has a home in Northport. Island Breeze, winner of Best Tiki Cocktail at the Island Spirit Cocktail Convention, is now being served at Blackfish Tavern—and it may be the right drink for anyone who isn’t ready to let summer go yet.
Most “best cocktail” claims don’t hold up.
This one does—and it’s sitting in Northport.
Every year, bars and bartenders across Long Island show up to compete. Real builds. Real judges. No hiding behind hype.
This year, the drink that walked out with Best Tiki Cocktail at the Island Spirit Cocktail Convention was Island Breeze, created by Joe Ferrando, owner of Evangelista Liquori USA and U.S. importer of Evangelista Liquori products from Abruzzo, Italy.
The competition was held during the 10-year celebration of the Long Island cocktail event at The Experience Event Center in Hauppauge.
And that history matters.
The event traces back to Matt Kourie launching the Long Island edition of New York Cocktail Expo in 2016, putting a dedicated spotlight on craft cocktails and the Long Island bars making them. That event evolved through LI Cocktail Fest, the LI Cocktail Tour during the lockdown period, and ultimately the Island Spirit Cocktail Convention.
Today, it is where the official Best Cocktail of the Year and Best Tiki Cocktail competitions for the Long Island event are held, with the awards presented by Kourie.
So when something wins here, it’s not random.
It means something held up.
And that’s where the story of Island Breeze really starts.
The drink comes from Joe Ferrando, owner of Evangelista Liquori USA and the U.S. importer of Evangelista Liquori products from Abruzzo, Italy.
That makes Evangelista Limoncello more than another bottle being added to a tropical cocktail.
It connects the drink directly back to the person who created the competition-winning Island Breeze.
And structurally, it makes sense.
Limoncello brings a concentrated lemon character that works alongside fresh lime rather than trying to replace it. Pineapple and coconut provide the tropical framework, while Evangelista gives the drink another citrus dimension beyond what lime alone can provide.
That helps separate Island Breeze from the countless pineapple-and-coconut drinks that can begin tasting interchangeable.
But there’s something else about the winning cocktail that matters.
It wasn’t designed around an ingredient list so obscure that nobody could ever make it again.
That was part of its strength.
Island Breeze represents something every mixologist should be trying to accomplish:
Practical + repeatable + delicious.
A competition cocktail should be able to leave the competition floor.
The ingredients should make sense. The structure should survive. Another serious bar should be able to pick up the idea, understand why it works and make it its own without destroying what made the drink successful.
Because creating something spectacular once is one thing.
Creating something that can actually live on a cocktail menu is another.
That’s exactly what happened in Northport.
Blackfish Tavern is now serving Island Breeze, keeping the identity of Ferrando’s winning cocktail intact while making one important change to the coconut-rum component.
The original competition-winning Island Breeze did not specifically call for Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum.
At Blackfish Tavern, it does.
The Northport version uses:
Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum
Evangelista Limoncello
Pineapple juice
Fresh lime juice
A splash of soda
Authentic tiki pebble ice
Evangelista provides the limoncello and citrus identity that connects the drink directly back to Ferrando’s winning Island Breeze.
Planteray supplies Blackfish’s interpretation of the coconut-rum foundation.
Pineapple brings tropical fruit and body. Fresh lime brings acidity and freshness. Soda gives the drink length and lift.
And the pebble ice matters.
It keeps the cocktail intensely cold while allowing the dilution and texture to slowly change as you drink it.
Blackfish’s choice of coconut rum brings another layer to the story.
Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum won Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient at the 2025 Spirited Awards during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.
So Blackfish didn’t simply swap one coconut rum for another.
It took an already award-winning Long Island tiki cocktail and chose an internationally recognized cocktail ingredient for its Northport interpretation.
Best Tiki Cocktail.
Then, in the Blackfish version, Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient.
The awards belong to two different things, and that distinction matters: Island Breeze had already won its Long Island title. Planteray is the modification Blackfish made afterward.
That’s a modification worth making.
And there’s something refreshing about the drink itself.
Tiki can get loud.
Island Breeze doesn’t have to.
Evangelista expands the lemon and citrus dimension of the drink. Fresh lime brings the acidity that keeps the cocktail moving away from simple sweetness.
Pineapple provides the recognizable tropical fruit and body.
The coconut rum gives it the tropical rum foundation.
Soda stretches everything out.
And the pebble ice keeps the whole thing intensely cold while the drink gradually changes through dilution.
The result delivers the escapism people want from a tiki cocktail without requiring the drink to become a sugar bomb.
If you’ve ever ordered a Piña Colada or tropical rum drink and thought:
I want this—but brighter, fresher and easier to keep drinking…
That’s where Island Breeze makes sense.
This is for people who:
Aren’t quite ready for Long Island summer to end
Like tropical cocktails without needing them to taste like dessert
Understand that tiki is supposed to transport you somewhere
And that last part matters.
Because Blackfish Tavern serves Island Breeze in a Big Wave tiki vessel—a sculptural blue-and-white breaking wave filled with authentic tiki pebble ice and the finished cocktail.
It isn’t subtle.
It shouldn’t be.
Tiki is supposed to transport you somewhere.
The vessel is part of that experience, and Blackfish also gives guests the option to purchase the Big Wave as a souvenir.
Here’s the part most people miss.
This drink doesn’t exist randomly at Blackfish—it fits exactly into what the restaurant is doing.
Blackfish Tavern has built a food-and-drink identity around seafood, lobster rolls, wings, cocktails and a growing tiki program.
Put that in Northport at the end of summer and the logic becomes pretty obvious.
Lobster roll.
Cold tropical cocktail.
Warm North Shore evening.
Summer still hanging around.
While part of Long Island is beginning to think about fall and pumpkin beer, another part is still going to the beach and looking for one more summer night.
Island Breeze belongs to that second group.
It’s an endless summer cocktail without needing to call itself one.
And there’s another reason the drink matters beyond Blackfish.
Island Breeze proves that a competition cocktail doesn’t need to disappear after the awards are handed out.
Its architecture is repeatable.
A properly stocked cocktail bar can understand it.
A bartender can reproduce the underlying idea.
A beverage program can intelligently adapt it.
Other bars should take note.
Because creating something spectacular once is one skill.
Creating something good enough to win a competition and practical enough to live afterward is another.
That may ultimately be one of the most interesting things about Island Breeze.
It won.
Then it survived the win.
And now another bar has been able to take the structure, preserve what made it work and give it a thoughtful interpretation of its own.
Right now, though, the place where Long Islanders can actually experience this version is Blackfish Tavern.
If you’re already going out in:
Northport
Huntington
Long Island’s North Shore
You’re not making a trip.
You’re making a better decision.
Blackfish Tavern sits at 1031 Fort Salonga Road in Northport, where seafood, lobster rolls, wings, cocktails and its tiki program give Island Breeze a setting that makes sense.
This isn’t a “plan it next month” kind of thing.
This is the kind of drink you go get when you’re already thinking:
“I’m not ready for summer to end yet.”
There’s a difference between hearing about the best and actually having it.
You already know where it is.
Where to Find It
1031 Fort Salonga Road, Northport, NY 11768
Call: 631-606-0610
Island Breeze is served at Blackfish Tavern using Evangelista Limoncello, Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum, pineapple juice, fresh lime juice and soda over authentic tiki pebble ice in the Big Wave tiki vessel, with the vessel also available for purchase as a souvenir.
In Northport, summer doesn’t have to end just because the calendar says it’s getting close.
Plan Your Visit to Blackfish Tavern
Island Breeze can be one part of a full Northport night rather than a single drink-and-go stop.
When the weather cooperates, cocktails and food can move outside to Blackfish Tavern’s outdoor patio—a natural way to stretch Long Island summer a little further.
Inside, the bar-room dining area offers a more traditional cocktail-bar experience built around food, spirits and a serious drinks program.
Island Breeze also sits inside a broader cocktail philosophy.
Blackfish Tavern puts attention into properly executed classics, modern classics, tiki drinks and contemporary tropical cocktails, with the details that matter: the right spirit, fresh citrus, dilution, ice and presentation.
A proper Daiquiri is part of that equation.
Simple on paper—rum, lime and sugar—the Daiquiri is one of the clearest tests of whether a bar understands balance. It also creates a direct bridge between classic cocktail culture and tiki, giving guests who come for Island Breeze another way into the rum side of the program.
The result is the kind of classic-and-tiki crossover more commonly associated with serious New York City cocktail bars than suburban restaurant programs.
And tiki here means more than pineapple.
Rum. Fresh citrus. Pebble ice. Balance. Classic builds. Proper vessels. Presentation. Escapism.
That same thinking connects Island Breeze, the Big Wave vessel and Blackfish’s tiki classics into a program designed to feel like actual cocktail culture rather than a collection of tropical-flavored drinks.
The food gives you a reason to stay.
Blackfish works for date night, drinks before dinner, couples, small groups and larger groups who want the cocktails without giving up a real dinner.
Fresh seafood, lobster rolls, oysters and shellfish, wings, chef-driven dishes and food-and-drink pairings give Island Breeze somewhere to go after the first round.
The cocktail can start the night.
The restaurant gives you a reason not to end it there.
Parking
Weekend valet parking is available at Blackfish Tavern.
It’s an easy option for guests coming in for weekend dinner, cocktails, dates or groups.
Prefer to self-park?
A free parking lot is also available directly across the street, giving guests an option to bypass valet.
At a Glance
Outdoor patio
Indoor bar-room dining
Classic cocktails + modern classics
Proper Daiquiri
Tiki classics + Island Breeze
Big Wave tiki vessel presentation
Fresh seafood + lobster rolls
Good for date night
Good for groups
Weekend valet parking
Free self-parking lot across the street
Come for the award-winning Island Breeze.
Stay for a proper Daiquiri, fresh seafood and another Northport night that still feels like summer.
Bar Manager? Bartender? or TiKi-Tender? Email resume to NY Cocktail Expo for placement considerations!
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