This traditional piña colada recipe is creamy, balanced, and straightforward to make at dwelling with easy substances! Excellent for summer season events, pool days, or anytime you want a tropical drink.
There’s one thing about sipping a piña colada that makes you’re feeling such as you’re on trip, even when you’re simply at dwelling. Too many piña coladas style manner too candy with solely a touch of rum. However I’ve discovered that the unique recipe for this traditional cocktail has an ideal steadiness between the pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and aged rum.
So right here’s easy methods to make a piña colada—the traditional manner! As a cocktail professional who has remodeled 300 cocktail recipes, I by no means get uninterested in this drink. As a result of who doesn’t love piña colada?
Why You’ll Love This Piña Colada Recipe
This piña colada recipe is a tried and true traditional; right here’s why you’ll adore it:
- Traditional tropical cocktail taste: It has a real coconut taste from cream of coconut paired with actual pineapple
- Balanced sweetness: It’s not too candy like many restaurant variations
- Creamy, slushy texture: The frozen pineapple chunks create the best texture
- Fast prep time: It takes simply 5 minutes to make!
5 Star Reader Opinions
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Very best recipe ever, thanks a lot retaining it traditional!”-Giardino
Elements You’ll Want
The important thing to this piña colada recipe is utilizing high quality substances. Right here’s what you’ll want and why every one issues:
- Frozen pineapple chunks: I exploit frozen pineapple chunks as a substitute of contemporary pineapple as a result of they create a pleasant thick, slushy texture. It’s additionally extra inexpensive than contemporary.
- Pineapple juice: Search for 100% juice with out added sugar (for the reason that cream of coconut already offers sweetness).
- Cream of coconut: That is essential: you want cream of coconut (like Coco Lopez), not coconut cream or coconut milk. Cream of coconut is sweetened and made for coconut cocktails. Coconut cream is unsweetened, and coconut milk is just too skinny. See my information to cream of coconut vs coconut cream.
- Aged rum: Many bartenders use white rum for a pina colada, however I like aged rum as a result of it has a deeper taste, with notes of vanilla and caramel. However white rum works nicely if that’s what you’ve gotten.
- Lime juice: Recent lime juice is crucial for including brightness.
- Ice cubes: Common ice cubes with the frozen pineapple create the slushy texture.
The way to Make a Piña Colada
The pina colada is a type of blended drinks that comes collectively in minutes. Right here’s what to do (or soar to the recipe for portions):
- Add the frozen pineapple chunks and ice cubes to the blender. Pulse a couple of occasions to interrupt them down into smaller items. Add the rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and lime juice.
- Mix on excessive velocity till fully easy and creamy. You desire a thick, slushy consistency, just like a milkshake. If it’s too thick, add a splash extra pineapple juice. If it’s too skinny, add a couple of extra ice cubes and mix once more.
Professional Tip: Should you can, make certain all of your substances are chilly earlier than mixing. This prevents the drink from melting too shortly as soon as served.
Variations To Attempt
Virgin Piña Colada: For a mocktail model, I merely mix frozen pineapple, maple syrup, and coconut milk. I like this variation! Go to my virgin piña colada recipe.
Much less candy model: Scale back the cream of coconut to 1 ½ ounces.
Additional thick model: Attempt my frozen piña colada that makes use of coconut milk for a smoothie-like texture. It’s nearly like a piña colada smoothie, however with rum.
Serving & Garnish Concepts
The traditional garnish for a piña colada is a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry. To make it a bit additional, add drink umbrellas! I discovered my drink umbrellas on Amazon.
A number of different concepts: you possibly can rim the glass with toasted coconut (like on this Coconut Margarita). Simply moisten the rim with lime juice and dip it in shredded coconut that you simply’ve evenly toasted in a dry pan.
You’ll be able to serve a piña colada at pool events, yard BBQs, or tropical-themed dinners, however I discover myself most frequently craving them within the winter! They pair nicely with grilled shrimp or fish tacos. Should you’re making extra drinks, you possibly can pair with Mai Tais or perhaps a good Bushwacker.
Tip: Should you love this drink, you can too strive a Chi Chi (vodka piña colada) or a Painkiller (with orange juice).
Often Requested Questions
Should you don’t have cream of coconut, you’ll be able to strive coconut cream combined with easy syrup to realize the same sweetness and texture. However we suggest getting the true factor right here! Or go to our Frozen Pina Colada recipe, which makes use of coconut milk.
It’s finest to make a piña colada contemporary for optimum taste and texture. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to pre-measure the substances and retailer them individually till able to mix with ice and rum.
Add extra ice or frozen pineapple to thicken the consistency.
A pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, and a cocktail umbrella are traditional garnishes. You too can add a sprinkle of toasted coconut flakes or a sprig of mint for additional aptitude.
To make contemporary pineapple juice at dwelling, minimize a ripe pineapple into chunks and mix them on excessive velocity till easy. Pressure the combination via a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth to take away the pulp, and also you’ll have contemporary pineapple juice. Whereas this provides you the freshest taste, bottled 100% pineapple juice works tremendous on this recipe and saves time.
The piña colada was invented in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1954 by bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero on the Caribe Hilton. It grew to become so common with each locals and vacationers that the Puerto Rican authorities declared it the nationwide drink in 1978. The drink represents the island’s tropical flavors: rum, pineapple, and coconut.
Sure, although it gained’t have the traditional frozen, slushy texture. To make a piña colada with no blender, shake the liquid piña colada substances (rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and lime juice) vigorously with ice in a cocktail shaker. Pressure right into a glass crammed with crushed ice. The result’s extra of an on-the-rocks model quite than a frozen blended drink.
Traditional Piña Colada Recipe
This traditional piña colada recipe is creamy, balanced, and straightforward to make at dwelling with easy substances! Excellent for summer season events, pool days, or anytime you want a tropical drink. For a simplified spin with a smoothie-like texture, go to Frozen Piña Colada.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook dinner Time: 0 minutes
- Complete Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 drinks 1x
- Class: Drink
- Methodology: Blended
- Delicacies: Cocktails
- Weight-reduction plan: Vegan
- 1 ½ cups frozen pineapple
- 1 ½ cups ice
- 5 ounces (½ cup plus 2 tablespoons) aged rum
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) cream of coconut (not coconut cream; see notes*)
- 4 ounces (½ cup) pineapple juice
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lime juice
- For the garnish: cocktail cherry
- Mix pineapple and ice till chunky. Add the remaining substances and mix till easy. Serve garnished with a cocktail cherry and drink umbrellas.
Notes
*Cream of coconut is a particular coconut product made for sweetening drinks, whereas coconut cream is unsweetened (learn extra at Cream of Coconut vs Coconut Cream). Don’t purchase coconut cream or the drink won’t style sweetened! Should you make this misstep and need to save your drink, you’ll be able to add easy syrup to style. You too can make a simplified model of this drink with coconut milk as a substitute: go to Frozen Pina Colada.
