The global novel coronavirus pandemic may have grounded us, but we can still enjoy happy hour. This daily series will provide delicious drink recipes for you to try at home. So call your friends for a virtual sip session and traverse the globe, even if it's only in your mind.
Today's cocktail hails from Puerto Rico – Piña Colada.
What is it?
The drink that practically begs to be sipped out of a coconut shell on a tropical sandy beach – accompanied, of course, by a paper umbrella.
Origins
Legend has it a 19th-century pirate king invented a coconut cream and pineapple drink, but the old scallywag didn’t leave the recipe. While it’s indisputable that the Piña Colada we know today was invented in glamorously popular Puerto Rico in the 1950s or 60s, the Caribe Hilton Hotel bar and Barrachina Restaurant hotly vie for the distinction as the true originator.
You'll need (serves 1)
2fl oz (60ml) cream of coconut (note: not coconut cream)
4fl oz (120ml) unsweetened pineapple juice
2fl oz (60ml) white rum or coconut milk
crushed ice
pineapple slice, to garnish
1 paper umbrella
Method
Step 1: Pour cream of coconut, pineapple juice and white rum (or coconut milk) into a blender over crushed ice.
Step 2: Blend, pour and serve.
Step 3: Garnish with fresh pineapple slice and paper umbrella.
Tasting notes
Sweet and creamy coconut. Tangy pineapple juice. A healthy swig of rum. The Piña Colada, more than almost any other drink, calls to mind sunburned shoulders and warm tropical breezes. The sweetened coconut cream mellows out the bite of the pineapple and rum into a smoothie-like dessert drink. Taste-test for yourself next time you visit Puerto Rico (where Piña Coladas are the national drink). Both locations mentioned left still serve up their variation on the “original” recipe. A virgin version is just as delicious: just add in a little more cream of coconut or coconut milk in place of the rum.
Other recipes:
Negroni
Mezcal Old Fashioned
Pimm's