The Best Piña Colada Recipe

Bring the beach to YOU! Try out this perfect Piña Colada Recipe and transport yourself to the tropics.

This official cocktail of Puerto Rico rapidly spread throughout the world, and it’s not hard to see why.

Who doesn’t love sweet coconut, rum, pineapple, and lime?!

Whether you’re getting caught in the rain, at home, or on the beach, it’s always a good time to mix yourself up this treat!

Let’s get right into it! This is the:

“Piña Colada” 

What You Will Need

Alcohol:

The star of the show will be a white rum! This just means that the rum was aged for less time which is why it is left with it’s clear color.These rums are usually much more mild in taste. The rum I have chosen to use is Flor de Caña 4 Year Old Extra Seco. I love the citrus, orange, and slight sweetness you get from this rum. It is a VERY agreeable rum to mix cocktails with! I got my bottle at Total Wine and More but they will have it at Bevmo and most select Liquor Stores.

For this recipe we will be adding a Float onto the top of our finished Piña Colada!

A float is a layer of alcohol you gently pour on top of a cocktail that is less dense than the contents below it. This will give a layering aesthetic to your cocktail and makes it look even more amazing!

You will want a dark rum for this, and I LOVE to use the Koloa Dark Hawaiian Rum. This rum has notes of vanilla, caramel, and dark molasses. It really gives off such a delicious scent on the nose! The smell of coconut and vanilla are killer and this float just adds another level of flavor to this Piña Colada! I picked up my bottle at Total Wine and More! 

Citrus and Fresh Juice:

We are going to be using some Fresh Pineapple Juice in this Piña Colada as well as Fresh Lime Juice! If you are able to make fresh juice for your cocktails I PROMISE you’ll never turn back! The taste is next level and there’s something so satisfying about making it yourself. In the photo above I have an example of a perfect pineapple that I purchased. You are looking for the pineapple to be yellow on the bottom and have a sweet scent. It should smell almost like candy on the bottom and thats when you know its perfect! Snag that bad boy and take it home.

You will need some sort of device to blend / juice your pineapple. I have the Ninja Blender pictured above! I love this thing, not only is it perfect for smoothies, sauces, and dips, but you can use it in instances like this as well! If you have an actual juicer use that by all means! You can also use any sort of blender. I picked up my Ninja Blender at Target, but they also have the same one on Amazon and I’ll link it RIGHT HERE!

If you use the Ninja Blender, you will more than likely have some pulp and debris left in your juice. I like to clear all of that away and make sure the juice is as smooth as possible! In the picture above I am taking the juice and running it through my fine mesh cocktail strainer! I’ll usually take the back of a spoon and squish the leftover pineapple pieces down making sure I extract as much juice as possible. We don’t want to miss out on any of the goodness!

Lastly I like to store my Fruit Juices or Syrups in these handy little glass bottles with pour spouts. They are the perfect size and are an awesome addition to the home bar! You’ll be feeling like an official bartender in no time with these bad boys. You can store your pineapple juice for about 3-5 days in the fridge! Be sure to label each bottle with the date and name of the juice so you can always assure quality and freshness. On Amazon they actually have a really cool set that comes with labels, pour spouts, and nips that cover the top of the spout. I’ll link it RIGHT HERE!

*Be sure to save leaves from the pineapple crown to use as a garnish! A tip I have is to store all the perfect leaves in your freezer so you always have a fun garnish whenever you need it for a tropical drink! *

Onto our Fresh Lime Juice. In the photo above I am using my stainless steel citrus juicer to get fresh lime juice for our Piña Colada! Lime juice in this cocktail breaks the sweetness by just a hair. I love a well balanced cocktail and the lime really gives you just a hint of tartness to offset this traditional sweet treat. I love this citrus juicer so much! Definitely one of my favorite additions to my home bar! I love the ease in the squeeze, being able to fit multiple pieces of fruit, and the pour spout that comes on this side! I couldn’t recommend it more!

Coconut:

This wouldn’t be a Piña Colada without the Cream of Coconut! I use the REAL Cream of Coconut brand! It’s easy to use, sweet, and easy to find! I got my bottle at Total Wine and More but I know they carry this at most grocery stores like Target, Vons, Safeway, and Walmart. It’s very affordable for how much you get!

Bar Supplies:

Firstly, we will need something to shake our cocktail with! I have ALWAYS used a Boston Shaker. It is definitely my preference and I love the range of shake and dilution you get with these. Definitely use whatever you have on hand, but if you want a set just like mine you can check it out RIGHT HERE on Amazon!

*We will be Whip Shaking this cocktail with crushed ice. I will have a section explaining what that means below*

Next you will want to make sure you have a Bar Jigger! This is the tool you use to make sure your cocktail is perfectly consistent and balanced. My jigger measures ingredients from 1/4 oz all the way up to 2 oz. Being precise with your measurements is so important in creating a consistently amazing cocktail! A bar jigger is definitely a must have. Check out one identical to what I have on Amazon RIGHT HERE !

I will also add that when I was a beginner I used a more simplified jigger. It allows you to see the measurements VERY clearly, has a nice little pour spout, and is only one sided. I will link the exact same one I had RIGHT HERE just in case you want something really helpful to get started with!

This Piña Colada requires Crushed Ice. In the photo above I am using my Lewis Bag and Mallet to create my crushed ice. You put full ice cubes into the bag, crush with the mallet, and scoop out crushed ice using a stainless steel ice scoop. I was lucky enough to get a set here in San Diego at a local bartending shop, but you can actually get your own FULL set that comes with all the supplies RIGHT HERE on Amazon. It comes with a scoop and everything! The bag is reusable and holds the crushed ice in a nice presentable way for your home bar.

If you would prefer to use an ice mold for your crushed ice I will link one on Amazon for you RIGHT HERE !

I do recommend that if you are starting to create multiple cocktails at home, you should invest in your own personal little Bartending Kit. Most come with everything you will need as a beginner while others provide several items for more complex creations. I will put links to both a beginners set, and a more advanced set on Amazon below!

Beginners Kit : HERE

Advanced Kit : HERE.

Garnish:

So for this Garnish I use a couple of different things! I want to clarify that garnishes are optional! You will still have a tasty cocktail no matter what, but a garnish really is just an extra step to get some presentation points for this particular cocktail.

• Firstly, in photo above I start with cutting off a thick piece of pineapple in a triangular shape with the skin and everything.
• I will take that piece and cut it into 4 thin slices. Match those pieces up and have them evenly placed on top of each other.
• Take a cocktail pick of your choice and stab through a marashino cherry. Then use the cocktail pick to stab through all four pieces of your pineapple in the lower left hand corner. For a cocktail pick identical to the one I have pictured check it out RIGHT HERE.
• Once all pineapple slices are secure on the cocktail pick, slightly fan them out to the right and you have yourself a pretty little garnish!

I also take 3 pieces of the leaves from the crown of the pineapple and insert them into the top of the cocktail!

Glassware:

I have a little section on glassware here because with tropical drinks, you have lots of options. For this Piña Colada I use a glass that looks just like a pineapple! It’s really cute and elevates your presentation! Especially if you are making these for a party of for friends! If you are in San Diego I got this glass from a store called Collins & Coupe. It has everything you will need as a bartender and it is honestly the coolest store I’ve ever been too!

I heard they have these pineapple glasses at World Market, but I also found them on Amazon by the brand Libbey. I will attach the link RIGHT HERE !

Here are some options of glassware for this cocktail if you can’t get your hands on the pineapple glass.

• Poco Grande Glass 
• Hurricane Glass
• Sling Glass
• Pint Glass

How to Whip Shake

We will be Whip Shaking this cocktail! Whether you have crushed your own ice in your Lewis Bag, or you have a pebble ice mold in your freezer, I will teach you exactly how to execute this technique.

What you want to do is add the ingredients of your cocktail into your small tin. In the large tin you want to add about a bar scoop worth of crushed ice. Combine your tins and form a seal.

Vigorously shake your cocktail until you have heard all of the ice fully dilute and disappear ! When it is ready it should pretty much just sound like liquid shaking in your tin! Break your seal and you are ready to pour!

You will then Dirty Pour into your glassware. This means not using any sort of strainer at all and dumping the contents right from the tin into the glass.

And thats it! I personally love Whip Shaking I find it to be a fun process!!

Let’s Build!