The
piña colada (
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
, strained pineapple:
piña, pineapple +
colada, strained) is a sweet,
rumRum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other barrels...
-based
cocktailA cocktail is a style of mixed drink. Originally a mixture of distilled spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, the word has gradually come to mean almost any mixed drink containing alcohol....
made with hard rum,
coconut creamCoconut cream is very similar to coconut milk but contains less water. The difference is mainly consistency. It has a thicker, more paste-like consistency, while coconut milk is generally a liquid...
, and
pineapplePineapple is the common name for an edible tropical plant and also its fruit. It is native to the southern part of Brazil, and Paraguay. Pineapple is eaten fresh or canned and is available as a juice or in juice combinations. It is used in desserts, salads, as a complement to meat dishes and in...
juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge or a
maraschino cherryA maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution usually containing sulfur dioxide or alcohol, then soaked in a suspension of food coloring...
. The piña colada has been the official beverage of
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
since 1978.
The Piña Colada was introduced on August 15, 1954 at the
Caribe Hilton’sThe Caribe Hilton Hotel, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is one of the best-known hotels in the Caribbean. It was the first facility ever operated by Hilton Hotels outside of the continental United States....
Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico by its alleged creator, Ramon “Monchito” Marrero.
The
piña colada (
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
, strained pineapple:
piña, pineapple +
colada, strained) is a sweet,
rumRum is a distilled beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses and sugarcane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other barrels...
-based
cocktailA cocktail is a style of mixed drink. Originally a mixture of distilled spirits, sugar, water, and bitters, the word has gradually come to mean almost any mixed drink containing alcohol....
made with hard rum,
coconut creamCoconut cream is very similar to coconut milk but contains less water. The difference is mainly consistency. It has a thicker, more paste-like consistency, while coconut milk is generally a liquid...
, and
pineapplePineapple is the common name for an edible tropical plant and also its fruit. It is native to the southern part of Brazil, and Paraguay. Pineapple is eaten fresh or canned and is available as a juice or in juice combinations. It is used in desserts, salads, as a complement to meat dishes and in...
juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge or a
maraschino cherryA maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution usually containing sulfur dioxide or alcohol, then soaked in a suspension of food coloring...
. The piña colada has been the official beverage of
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
since 1978.
Origin
The Piña Colada was introduced on August 15, 1954 at the
Caribe Hilton’sThe Caribe Hilton Hotel, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is one of the best-known hotels in the Caribbean. It was the first facility ever operated by Hilton Hotels outside of the continental United States....
Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico by its alleged creator, Ramon “Monchito” Marrero. Apparently, the hotel management had expressly requested Monchito to mix a new signature drink that would delight the demanding palates of its starstudded clientele. Monchito accepted the challenge, and after 3 intense months of blending, shaking and experimenting, the first Piña Colada was born. This story is more credible because the Piña Colada contains cream of coconut as one of the primary ingredients, and the cream of coconut "Coco López" (which is the pioneer) was invented in 1954 in the
University of Puerto RicoFounded in 1903, the University of Puerto Rico is the oldest and largest university system in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and the University of Puerto Rico is a Land Grant University. The university is accredited by the Middle States Association...
by Ramón López Irizarry.
Other Stories
The earliest known story states that in the 1800s, Puerto Rican pirate
Roberto CofresíRoberto Cofresí , better known as "El Pirata Cofresí", was the most renowned pirate in Puerto Rico. He became interested in sailing at a young age. By the time he reached adulthood there were some political and economic difficulties in Puerto Rico, which at the time was a colony of Spain...
(a.k.a. "El Pirata Cofresí"), to boost his crew's morale he gave them a beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum. This was what would be later known as the famous piña colada. With his death in 1825, the recipe for the piña colada was lost.
Barrachina, a restaurant in Puerto Rico, also claims to be the birth place of the piña colada:
In 1963, on a trip to South America Mr Barrachina met another popular Spaniard and bartender Mr. Ramon Portas Mingot. Don Ramon has worked with the best places in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and associated with 'Papillon' the most luxurious bar in Carcao and was also recognized for his cocktail recipe books. Pepe Barrachina and Don Ramon developed a great relationship. While working as the main bartender at Barrachina (a restaurant in Puerto Rico), Ramon mixed pineapple juice, coconut cream, condensed milk and ice in a blender, creating a delicious and refreshing drink, known today as the Piña Colada.
The earliest reference in the New York Times to a drink called a piña colada containing rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice, occurred in the April 16, 1950, edition of the
New York Times:
Drinks in the West IndiesThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
range from MartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . It is an overseas department of France. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is also one of the twenty-six regions of...
's famous rum punch to Cuba's pina colada (dark rum, pineapple chunks and coconut milkCoconut milk is a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a mature coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content and sugars. In Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia coconut milk is called santan and in the Philippines it is called gata. In...
). Key West Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States.The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
has a variety of lime swizzles and punches, and GranadiansGrenada is an island country and sovereign state consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the...
use nutmeg in their rum drinks.
The earliest known reference to a drink specifically called a piña colada is from
TRAVEL magazine, December 1922:
But best of all is a piña colada, the juice of a perfectly ripe pineapple—a delicious drink in itself—rapidly shaken up with ice, sugar, lime and Bacardi rum in delicate proportions. What could be more luscious, more mellow and more fragrant?
The above quote describes a drink without coconut, as the piña colada was originally just the juice of a fresh pineapple served either strained (
colada) or unstrained (
sin colar). This evolved into a rum drink, and finally it changed into the drink we know today.
Barcelona-born and Hilton employee, Ricardo Gracia, who claims to have invented the contended drink in 1954 under a series of fortuitous circumstances. Rumor has it that while Gracia worked at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan de Puerto Rico, the coconut cutters’ union decided to strike. Until that moment, the Puerto Rican drink of choice had been the popular Coco-Loco, a mix of coconut milk, rum and coconut cream served inside a fresh macheted coconut. When the coconut supply was halted by the strike, resourceful Ricardo Gracia made the executive decision to relocate the ingredients of the Coco-Loco inside hollowed out pineapples(evidently the pineapple cutters’ union had not followed suit with a strike of their own). Once the coconut flavor and rum came into contact with the sweet
acidity of the pineapple pulp, the Piña Colada was inevitably born.
Variations
- Different proportions may be used. For example, 1 part rum, 2 each of pineapple juice and coconut cream
- Dark rum may be used
- Virgin piña colada or piñita colada - without the rum
- Chi Chi - vodka
Vodka is a clear distilled liquor composed of water and ethyl alcohol, made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses; it also might contain trace amounts of other substances, either a flavour or unintended impurities...
substituted for rum
- Miami Vice - 1/2 strawberry daiquiri
Daiquiri is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, lime juice, and sugar or other sweetener. There are several versions, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba....
poured over 1/2 piña colada (use frozen versions of each, and do not blend together)
- Lava Flow - Strawberry daiquiri
Daiquiri is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, lime juice, and sugar or other sweetener. There are several versions, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba....
and piña colada blended together
- Amaretto colada - amaretto
Amaretto is a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur of Italian origin. It is made from a base of apricot or almond pits, or sometimes both.-Etymology:...
substituted for rum
- Belizean piña colada - evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, also known as dehydrated milk, is a shelf-stable canned milk product with about 60% of the water removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains added sugar. Sweetened condensed milk requires less processing since the added sugar inhibits...
(pet milk) instead of coconut cream
- Staten Island Ferry - coconut rum and pineapple juice over ice.
See also
- Coco Lopez
Coco López is a Puerto Rican coconut product which is used in many popular drinks.The original "Coco López" was invented by Ramón López Irizarry, who was an agricultural professor for the University of Puerto Rico. With funds from the government, he worked on his idea inside a small laboratory...
- Ramon Lopez Irizarry
Ramon Lopez-Irizarry was an educator and scientist who invented an easier way to extract the cream from the coconut pulp and developed the original formula of "Coco Lopez".-Early years:...
- Escape (Rupert Holmes song) - also known as the Piña Colada Song