Piña Colada

A pina colada is one of our favorite tiki drinks – but it’s a drink that we would much rather make at home than order at a bar or restaurant. This is because most pina coladas just aren’t that good. They’re made with super-sweet pina colada mixes and have so much ice in them that you get brain freeze before you taste any of the coconut or pineapple. Fortunately, they’re easy to make at home and can actually turn out to be a very impressive drink once your friends and family realize how much more amazing they taste when they’re fresh.

We use cream of coconut in this recipe. Cream of coconut is to coconut milk what sweetened condensed milk is to regular milk. It is very thick, very sweet and has a very strong flavor. It’s a good way to bring some coconut flavor into a recipe like this one, where you need some sweetness, without having to add a tremendous amount of additional liquid. We like Coco Lopez, but there are other brands out there that you should be able to find at your liquor store or the liquor aisle of your grocery store.

Piña Colada
2 oz white rum
2 oz pineapple juice
2 oz cream of coconut, such as Coco Lopez
2 pineapple rings (approx 1/2-inch thick)
1 cup of ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth. Garnish with a slice of fresh pineapple.

*For an extra kick, float an ounce of dark rum on top before serving.