If You Like Piña Coladas

July 10th is Piña Colada day! The piña colada has been around since 1954 when, as the story goes, a bartender at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico was asked by the hotel manager to come up with a new signature drink that would appeal to their celebrity guests. After three months of experimenting, the piña colada was born.

Other stories include a “lost recipe” created by a Puerto Rican pirate to boost the morale of his men while at sea in the 1800’s, to a bar in Carcao in the 1960’s that created and sold a similar drink to its patrons. Whichever story is true will probably never be answered, but it’s become a summer staple just the same!

The piña colada (Spanish for strained pineapple) is a perfect drink for a hot summer evening. Traditionally made with rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice, it can be served either stirred with ice or blended for a smoothie-type drink. Due to its origin it’s been the official drink of Puerto Rico since 1978.

A good starting recipe includes:

~ 3 oz light rum
~ 3 tbsp coconut cream
~ 3 tbsp crushed pineapple

Put all ingredients into an electric blender with 2 cups of crushed ice. Blend at a high speed for a short length of time. Strain into a glass and serve with a straw. Garnish with pineapple wedge or maraschino cherry.

Proportions of the standard ingredients can be easily played around with to suit your own taste, too.

A virgin, or non-alcoholic version, can be made easily enough by omitting the rum. Other variations include the Miami Vice, which is 1/2 strawberry daiquiri poured over 1/2 piña colada (do not blend together); the Lava Flow, which is a strawberry daiquiri and piña colada blended together; and the Belizean piña colada, where evaporated milk is used in place of the coconut cream.

Where is your favorite place to sit and enjoy a piña colada?

[image: flickr]