Classic Recipe: Piña Colada

Today’s forecast is 95 and sunny, with more of the same (and even hotter) for the next two days.  When this part of the summer comes around, I resort to standard survival methods:  crank the air conditioning; put out the inflatable backyard pool; and blend up some frozen drinks.  To help you in your fight back against the heat and humidity, I offer you a recipe for the classic frozen cocktail:  the piña colada.

The piña colada combines pineapple and coconut flavors with ice and rum and – through the power of these tropical flavors and the position the drink has come to occupy in the collective imagination – mentally transports you to a breezy tropical island.  Suddenly, the blazing heat and humidity of the Washingtonian jungle feels right – almost as if you really are at the beach:

Even if all you are really doing is filling your inflatable pool for that inflatable-pool party you’re hosting later (but trust me, this is a good idea – it helps with the tropical-island fantasy):

As with many classic cocktails, the ingredients here are relatively simple:  rum, pineapple (and pineapple juice), and cream of coconut.  The modern iteration of the drink, recently published in Imbibe magazine and modified slightly here per my preferences (more rum, more coconut), was invented by Ramón “Monchito” Marrero of the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico in 1954 and, since 1978, has been the official national drink of Puerto Rico (more history here).

I offer you a few notes on the recipe.  For the cream of coconut, I like the Goya brand, which tastes very good and is available in a squeeze-bottle version at the grocery store.  Also, you’ll need a blender.  Note that lower-powered blenders sometimes struggle with large ice cubes.  But as long as you have (or can make) crushed ice, any blender should do.  (If you’re looking to expand your frozen drink-making practice and are in the market for a high-powered machine that can do the crushing for you, I have been happy with the Blendtec Designer blender.  It’s bit pricey, but it gets the job done.)

Here’s the recipe:

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Piña Colada

The Piña Colada is a classic frozen cocktail recipe featuring pineapple, cream of coconut, and rum.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Tiki

Keyword Piña Colada

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cocktails

Calories 260kcal

Author Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

• 2 oz. aged rum I used Appleton Estate Reserve
• 2 oz. cream of coconut I used Goya
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 5 chunks fresh pineapple
• 16 oz. crushed ice

Instructions

• Combine ingredients in a blender.
• Blend ingredients until smooth enough to drink through a straw.
• Pour into your glass of choice and garnish with a pineapple chunk.

Enjoy!