Pina Colada Recipe
A Piña Colada done right is rich, cold and balanced: white rum, cream of coconut and fresh pineapple juice blended until velvet smooth. Skip the neon mix and build it from real bottles, the way Puerto Rico's national cocktail was meant to taste.
Ingredients
- 2 ozwhite Puerto Rican rum
- 1.5 ozcream of coconut
- 3 ozpineapple juice
- 0.5 ozfresh lime juice
- 1 cupice
Garnish
- Pineapple wedge
- Maraschino cherry
- Optional lime wheel
Equipment: Blender, jigger, hurricane glass, bar spoon
Method
- Chill a hurricane glass in the freezer for a few minutes while you gather ingredients.
- Add the white rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, fresh lime juice and ice to a blender pitcher.
- Blend on high for 15 to 25 seconds until smooth and thick, with no visible ice chunks.
- Pour into the chilled hurricane glass, letting the foam settle to the top.
- Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a cherry, add a straw, and serve immediately.
About the Pina Colada
The Piña Colada was born in Puerto Rico and cemented in San Juan hotel bars in the 1950s, where bartenders paired local rum with pineapple and coconut. It became the island’s national drink, and the classic build is simple: white rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice and lime. The lime is the part most people skip, and it is the part that keeps the drink from turning syrupy.
To nail it, use cream of coconut rather than coconut milk or a pre-sweetened mixer, and taste your pineapple juice first. Blend just until smooth so the drink stays cold and thick instead of watery, and serve it in a chilled glass so the foam holds. For a frozen version, freeze pineapple juice in cubes and blend those in place of ice.
- Use cream of coconut, not coconut milk, for the right sweetness and body.
- Fresh lime juice balances the coconut and pineapple; do not leave it out.
- Freeze pineapple juice into cubes for a thicker frozen drink that will not water down.
- Blend briefly: over-blending melts the ice and thins the texture.
Get the bottles delivered
Order online for same-day or next-day Long Island delivery, free curbside pickup in Commack, or wine shipping where it is legal (spirits are local delivery and in-store pickup only). You must be 21 or older.
