If You Like Piña Coladas, Then Try One Of These Piña Colada Recipes (Part 1)

The @HungryEditor asked a handful of friends and beverage industry insiders to share a recipe for their take on the Piña Colada. Some are riffs on the classic, while others are creative interpretations. Either way you’ll have lots of options to try and imbibe. This two part series will have you wanting to test your bartending skills and make these drinks all year long.

The first Piña Colada on record dates back to 1954 in Puerto Rico. It was created at the Caribe Hilton by bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero as a welcome drink for guests. Initially they were made non-alcoholic and in a shaker because blenders didn’t exist at the time. Years later Marrero added local rum and in 1978 the Piña Colada was named the official drink of Puerto Rico.

Caribe Hilton Original Piña Colada

2 oz Rum

1 oz Coconut Cream

1 oz Heavy Cream

6 oz Pineapple Juice

½ cup Crushed Ice

Mix rum, cream of coconut, heavy cream, and pineapple juice in a blender. Add ice and blend for 15 seconds. Serve in a 12 oz. glass and garnish with fresh pineapple and a cherry.

Canela Colada

0.75 oz Stiggins Plantation Pineapple Rum

0.75 oz Rhum Clement V.S.O.P. Agricole Rum

0.5 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum

1.5 oz Unsweetened Coconut Milk

0.5 oz *Fresh Maui Gold Pineapple Syrup

0.5 oz **Cinnamon Demerara Syrup

0.5 oz Fresh Lime

3 dashes Tiki Bitters

Garnish: Freshly grated cinnamon, dehydrated pineapple, pineapple fronds, and a cinnamon stick.

Combine all ingredients into a shaker, add ice, and give a quick hard shake. Dump into snifter style glass and top with crushed or pebble ice. Finish with fresh grated cinnamon, a dehydrated pineapple, and fresh pineapple fronds.

*Fresh Pineapple Syrup: Juice a fresh pineapple on low setting, then strain. Add equal parts pineapple juice to granulated white sugar by weight. Stir to dissolve. No heat needed.

**Cinnamon Demerara Syrup: Combine 25 gram of crushed cinnamon sticks to 32 oz of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min. Remove from heat and strain out cinnamon sticks. While water is still hot, whisk in equal parts demerara sugar by volume. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

“Here is a fun riff on a Piña Colada. It was inspired by a trip I did to Mexico where they served us Piña Coladas with fresh grated cinnamon on top. I really loved the flavor of the cinnamon with the coconut and pineapple.”

– Mari Howe, Bar Manager at Pacific’o on the Beach

Golden Colada

50 ml Plantation Dark Rum infused with Pineapple for 3 days

15 ml Yellow Chartreuse

90 ml Coconut Milk

30 ml Coconut Cream

30 gr Pineapple Pieces

1 pza Dehydrated Pineapple

Edible Gold Flakes

1 pza Pineapple Penca

Infuse the Plantation rum and pineapple by cutting the pineapple into pieces and letting them sit in the rum for 3 days. Macerate the pineapple in the shaker. Add all ingredients to the shaker. Perform shaking and double casting. Garnish with pineapple penca and dehydrated pineapple. Decorate with gold flakes. Enjoy!

The team at La Botica in Las Ventanas al Paraiso tells me that the history of the Piña Colada goes back even further to the early 1800’s where legend has it that Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí, also known as ‘El Pirata Cofresí’ in Caribbean folklore, served a drink where he mixed white rum, pineapple juice, and coconut milk. La Botica’s version highlights white and gold colors because of the beautiful golden flashes of sun one experiences when walking the property.

Shaken Piña Colada

3 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice

1 oz Cream of Coconut

0.50 oz Fresh Lime Juice

2 oz Dark Rum

Pineapple Wedge, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine all ingredients. Shake until chilled. Pour into a glass. Garnish with pineapple wedge.

*For a frozen version, combine all ingredients in a blender with ice.

Camille Wilson is an author and founder of The Cocktail Snob.

Hāmākua Holiday

2 oz Pau Maui Vodka

3 oz Dole Pineapple Juice

3 oz Real Coconut Puree

1.5 oz Hāmākua Coast Premium Ube Syrup

Ice

Garnish: Fresh Pineapple and Purple Orchid

Blend together the pineapple juice, coconut puree, vodka, and ice. Coat the inside of a highball glass with Hāmākua Coast Premium ube syrup. Pour blended cocktail into the coated glass. Garnish with fresh pineapple and purple orchid.

The Hāmākua Holiday is available at Quiora Waikiki and resort pools at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach.

Lolo Avô

1.5oz Cachaça (Novo Fogo Plata preferred)

0.5oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau preferred)

0.5oz Rich Cane Syrup*

1.75oz Avocado-Coconut Biz**

Combine all ingredients together in a shaker tin and add a small scoop of crushed ice. Whip shake until ingredients are aerated and slightly diluted then pour into a Collins glass over more crushed ice. Garnish with a dehydrated citrus wheel and freshly grated cinnamon or nutmeg if you’d prefer.

*Rich Cane Syrup:

2 parts Cane Sugar

1 part Water

Make sure water is boiling then add in the sugar. Stir thoroughly until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes back up to a boil. This ensures none of the sugar will separate or crystallize. Let cool then bottle and date. Keeps well in the fridge for up to a month.

**Avocado-Coconut Biz:

90 grams Avocado (1/2 Avocado)

90 grams Lime Juice

90 grams Granulated White Sugar

45 grams Water

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Citric Acid (optional)

236 grams Coconut Milk (Thai Coconut Milk preferred)

Combine hot water and sugar together and stir until fully incorporated. Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Strain and then add Coconut Milk to the mixture and stir in thoroughly. Label, date, and store in the fridge for at most 4 days.

Kitty Bernardo created this drink during their tenure at Leyenda for the summer menu of 2021. They currently bartend at both Subject and Bar Goto in the Lower East Side. You can find them on Instagram @viddy_kitty.

“Loosely based on a Piña Colada, the Lolo Avô is a boozy twist on the Avocado Milkshake many Filipinx consider a sweet summertime treat. Usually consisting of blended sugar, ripe avocado, milk, and ice — I wanted to create a cocktail inspired by these humble ingredients through which I can share my culture and my story. The Lolo Avô blends avocado with Cachaça, a cane-based spirit with a distinctive grassy/floral note that works well with the rich, silky textures in the fruit more so than the regular white rum most are used to in a traditional Piña Colada. A touch of Amontillado Sherry adds nuttiness and salinity that works well to draw out more of that coconut flavor everyone loves so much.

As for the name, it’s derived from the Tagalog word for ‘grandfather’ and an abbreviation of the word avocado, since it was my Lolo who passed this recipe down to my mother, who in turn passed it to me. My Lolo was a foodie before his time, he and my Lola brought our family to the States from the Philippines and opened up our palates to more than just the food we were familiar with cooking at home. In Filipinx households, it’s common to ask ‘have you eaten yet?’ as a greeting instead of ‘how are you?’ because we believe to be fed is to be cared for, to be truly nourished in spirit and body. Funnily enough, add an accent to ‘avo’ and it turns into the Portuguese word for ‘grandfather’ as well, in an unexpected way tying back to the Brazilian roots of the cachaça in this drink.

On behalf of myself and my Lolo, who would’ve undoubtedly wanted me to share this with you, I welcome you to make this drink for yourself. It’s not a traditional Piña Colada by any means, but even if the journey there takes a little longer, we can still enjoy it together.”

Miami Colada

2 parts Malibu

1 parts Cream of Coconut

1 ½ parts Pineapple Juice

½ parts Lime juice

½ parts Vanilla Syrup

Shake ingredients together. Strain over fresh ice. Garnish with pineapple wedge and pineapple frond.

Jane Danger is the National Mixologist for Pernod Ricard.

Piña Corn-lada

1.5 oz Ferrand Cognac

1.5 oz Pineapple Juice

1 oz Corn Milk*

.5 oz Lime Juice

.25 oz Cinnamon Syrup**

Pinch of Tamarind Salt

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and pour everything into a hurricane glass. Top with more crushed or pebble ice. Garnish with a pineapple leaf and baby corn.

*Corn Milk: Remove the kernels from one cob of corn for each cup of water used to create the desired amount. Blend the corn and water together at high speed, then fine strain to remove solids.

**Cinnamon Syrup: You will need equal amounts of sugar and water, plus three cinnamon sticks for each cup of water used. Bring water and cinnamon to a boil, then let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and mix with Sugar until thoroughly dissolved.

Chris Patino is a partner at Raised by Wolves.

Coquito Colada

1 oz Baileys Colada Irish Cream Liqueur

3/4 oz Captain Morgan White Rum

1 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice

1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice

1/2 oz Cinnamon Powder

5 Basil Leaves

Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Muddled Cranberries

Muddle cranberries at the bottom of a tall Collins glass. Combine remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into the Collins glass over crushed ice. Top with hibiscus tea and enjoy!

Spiced Rum Piña Colada

1 ½ parts Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum

1 part Cream of Coconut

¼ Pineapple Juice

Combine all ingredients to an empty mixing glass and shake. Add ice and shake again vigorously. Strain into a highball, tiki glass, or pineapple and fill with ice. Garnish with fresh pineapple, maraschino cherry, and toasted coconut flakes.

La Cabaña

2 oz Bacardi Coconut

1.5 oz *Guanabana Mix

0.5 oz Pineapple Juice

0.25 oz Lime Juice

0.25 oz Blue Curacao

Shake all ingredients hard, pour into coupe. Garnish with dehydrated pineapple.

*Guanabana Mix Recipe: 2.5 cups Guanabana puree 3 cups water 1 cup coconut syrup (same build for the Cuban jungle syrup) 1/2 tsp citric acid

Recipe by David Ponce de Leon at Colada Shop.

Joanna Colada

1.5 oz Bacardi Coconut

0.5 oz Bacardi Spiced

1.5 oz Pineapple Juice

0.75 oz Spiced Honey Syrup*

0.5 oz Lime

1 tsp Coco Lopez

Shake all ingredients hard, pour into collins glass over fresh ice. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

*Honey Syrup Recipe: Bring 1 cup water to a boil and bring to simmer. Add 15 allspice berries, 10 cloves, and 1⁄2 tsp powdered ginger and let simmer 15 min before allowing to cool. Strain. Add 3 cups honey.

Recipe by Richard Sterling, guest bartender at Colada Shop.

Colada Coreano

1 oz Bacardi Tropical

1 oz Soon Hari Yogurt Soju

0.5 oz Soon Hari Citrus Soju

1.5 oz Pineapple Juice

1 oz Coconut Syrup*

Shake all ingredients hard and pour into rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with dehydrated lime wheel.

*Coconut Syrup: Put 1 part sugar and 1 part coconut water into a pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 10 minutes.

Recipe by Geoffrey Chang, guest bartender at Colada Shop.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of these Piña Colada recipes.