This Is The Best Piña Colada Recipe We've Ever Created (2024)

When you have a creamy, cold, and refreshing piña colada in your hand, life truly becomes a beach. A classic summer drink, this tropical vibe in a glass is easy enough to order out at a bar, but when you want the perfect combination of sweetness, creaminess, and slush factor, making it at home is tops. After a double-digit number of attempts, we landed on the ideal blend of pineapple, coconut, rum, and effort that will help you reach piña colada paradise. Follow our top tips on these three essential ingredients for the perfect taste of paradise in every sip.

Freeze your own pineapple.
It’s fair to think we’re a little crazy for this. Why not just buy frozen pineapple? Well, we’ve got two reasons. Firstly, frozen pineapple can vary wildly in taste, and it’s impossible to tell how sweet it is before blending it. Opting for fresh pineapple gives you the chance to find the sweetest, ripest pineapple you can find, ensuring maximum pineapple flavor. When shopping, use your senses to find the ripest pineapple. The skin should appear more golden rather than all green, especially on the bottom of the pineapple. Once you spot one with a nice golden hue, smell the bottom of the pineapple. The best ones will give off a very fruity, sweet, pineappley scent. Last but not least, you can also tug at the leaves of the pineapple to test for ripeness. If the leaves pull away easily, it’s good to go!

The second reason is pure vanity—we like to use a fresh pineapple wedge and a few pineapple leaves for garnish to really sell the beachy feel. Follow our guide on the easiest way to cut a pineapple to make this step a breeze.

Skip the Coco Lopez.
We know, we know—everyone uses Coco Lopez sweetened coconut cream. Don't get us wrong, it’s a delicious product, but at the end of the day, we’re after the right perfect balance of ingredients in this co*cktail, which is tough to do when you have to control coconut flavor and sweetness in the same step. Instead, we went for a blend of coconut cream and sweetened condensed milk, which gives you more control over that balance. To give this drink some extra body and help it stay cold longer, the coconut cream gets frozen in ice cube trays before you pop it into the blender.

When you open a can of coconut cream, you might think it’s a solid block of coconut oil, but once you break the thick surface with a spoon, you’ll be able to see the water that has separated from the cream while the can sat on the store shelf. Before using it for your piña colada, dump the contents of the container into a small bowl and whisk vigorously until the solids and liquids are smooth and evenly blended.

Black rum > all other rums.
Opt for black rum over light rum for a richer, deeper flavor in your final beverage. Dark rums are aged in wooden barrels to get their caramel color and a bolder flavor than light rum. It shouldn’t affect the final color of your blended drink, but it will have a serious impact on the flavor.

When you give it a whirl in your own kitchen, drop a comment to let us know how much you loved it!

Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
10 mins
Total Time:
3 hrs 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
433

Ingredients

Directions

    1. Step1Cut pineapple in half crosswise. Using a knife, remove skin from one half, then cut into quarters and remove core. Reserve remaining half that still has skin intact. Reserve leaves for garnish.
    2. Step2Finely chop pineapple flesh from peeled half into 1/2" pieces. Transfer 1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple to a freezer-safe bag and freeze until frozen, 2 to 3 hours.
    3. Step3In a glass measuring cup, whisk coconut cream and milk until smooth. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze until completely firm, about 3 hours.
    4. Step4Meanwhile, cut reserved pineapple half into quarters. Slice one quarter into wedges for serving; reserve remaining pineapple for another use.
    5. Step5Transfer frozen pineapple and cream cubes to a blender. Add ice, rum, and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth.
    6. Step6Divide piña colada among glasses. Garnish with reserved leaves, a pineapple wedge, and a cherry.

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Brooke Caison

Food Editor

Brooke Caison is the food editor at Delish, where she develops and styles original recipes, writes the weekly membership newsletter, and appears as occasional on-camera talent for Delish's YouTube channel. She's obsessed with the idea of bringing restaurant methods to the home cook with foolproof techniques and organized cooking (like how to safely shuck a clam or tackle a complex baking project). A graduate of ICE, she was previously a line cook, hospitality manager for the opening season of Little Island, and culinary assistant to Top Chef judge and food expert Gail Simmons. Her work has also appeared on Martha Stewart. There's no food she won’t try, but cranberry whipped feta dip has her heart.

This Is The Best Piña Colada Recipe We've Ever Created (2024)

FAQs

Is coconut milk or coconut cream better for Piña Colada? ›

However, I've found that cream of coconut makes for the best piña coladas. What is this? The cream of coconut makes the drink super rich and creamy, whereas coconut milk is much less sweet and not as intense in flavor.

What is the original Piña Colada made of? ›

Díaz de Villegas's book, the original Monchito recipe was to pour 85 grams of cream of coconut, 170 grams of pineapple juice and 43 grams of white rum into a blender or shaker with crushed ice, blend or shake very well until smooth, then pour into chilled glass and garnish with pineapple wedge and/or a maraschino ...

What country makes the best Piña Colada? ›

There's no question that the best piña colada you´ll ever have will be in Puerto Rico, its birthplace.

What is a substitute for cream of coconut in Piña Colada? ›

No cream of coconut? No problem. You can make a pina colada with coconut milk. This simple take on the classic tropical co*cktail is made without a blender and served on the rocks, but it's just as creamy and delicious as the classic.

What kind of rum do you use for Piña Colada? ›

What type of rum goes in a Piña Colada? While the classic Piña Colada is made with white rum, you can always experiment with different flavors. Try a gold rum to bring a bit more warmth, or a spiced rum for a unique co*cktail.

Why is my Piña Colada bitter? ›

When pineapple mingles with dairy products such as milk and yogurt, its bromelain breaks down their casein, which is a major protein in milk. "The casein is chemically chewed up by bromelain, which will result in peptides, or smaller protein pieces, that can be perceived as bitter," he says.

Is white rum or dark rum better for Piña Colada? ›

If you prefer a Piña Colada with a pronounced, indulgent sweetness and a touch of sophistication, dark rum is an excellent choice to enhance this holiday classic. Flavor. Dark rum is known for its deep, caramelized flavors, infusing the Piña Colada with complexity.

Is dark rum or light rum better for Piña Colada? ›

While the original Piña Colada recipe from the Caribe Hilton calls for either a Puerto Rican white rum or a gold rum at the base, using a dark rum gives the drink more depth and character. “It gives a bite to it,” says McCoy.

Is Piña Colada Hawaiian or Mexican? ›

If you like piña colada, you should know the famous tropical drink was invented in Puerto Rico! The sweet mix of coconut cream, pineapple juice, white rum, and ice was born in San Juan, but the identity of its creator is still an unresolved controversy on the island.

What is the main alcohol in a Piña Colada? ›

In order to make a Piña Colada, one of the most important ingredients is light rum.

What's the difference between a Piña Colada and a coconut colada? ›

One difference between the Coconut Colada and a standard Piña Colada is the use of freshly squeezed pineapple juice rather than anything pre-packaged, like the ones commonly found in cans.

Who really invented the piña colada? ›

Ramon Monchito is most often credited with the creation of the Piña Colada. Monchito concocted the drink while working as a bartender at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in 1954. Monchito was a kind and humble bartender who would make piña coladas for large parties in generous proportions.

What restaurant invented the piña colada? ›

Let's take a trip back in time to 1954 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. If you found yourself at the iconic Caribe Hilton, you might be one of the very first to try a piña colada.

What bar was the original piña colada? ›

Ramón 'Monchito' Marrero Pérez claims to have first made it at the Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan on 15th August 1952 (the Caribe Hilton say 1954), using the then newly available Coco López cream of coconut. Ricardo Garcia, who also worked at the Caribe, says that it was he who invented the drink.

Which is better coconut milk or coconut cream? ›

Coconut cream also comes in a can, and it has a higher concentration of coconut meat. It is thicker, has a higher fat content and is scoop-able throughout. Coconut milk and cream are mostly interchangeable in recipes such as curries and soups. If you prefer a richer flavour and texture, try coconut cream or vice versa.

Why use coconut cream instead of coconut milk? ›

Coconut Cream vs Coconut Milk

Compared to normal coconut milk, coconut cream has a much higher fat content, containing around 19-22% fat. Coconut cream still retains the delicious coconut flavor that coconut milk has, but is much thicker as it is essentially coconut milk with less water.

Does coconut cream taste better than coconut milk? ›

The cream that rises to the top of a can of coconut milk is also considered coconut cream. Coconut cream can sometimes be used similarly to coconut milk, though it makes for a much more powerful coconut flavor. Cream of coconut is a sweetened version of coconut cream, and is often used for desserts and mixed drinks.

Can I use coconut cream instead of coconut milk? ›

Can You Replace Coconut Cream with Coconut Milk? The good news about coconut cream and coconut milk is that although they may be different consistencies, they're very similar. You can use coconut cream in place of milk if you dilute it with additional water. Different coconut cream brands vary on fat content.

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