Blender Piña Colada
You may associate piña coladas with laid-back poolside vacations, but this mix of rum, coconut, and pineapple is actually a pillar of the tiki drink canon. Quite a few bartenders and bars have claimed to have created the now famous piña colada over the years, but the drink’s true origins are a bit murky. There’s even evidence that traders in the 19th century mixed rum with coconut water and mashed pineapple for what would have been a sort of proto-piña! In the end, though, I guess it doesn’t really matter. Because piña coladas are amazing. If you’re looking for a refreshing, sultry cocktail to highlight your next summer party this is it. By the way, there’s a misconception out there that blended piña coladas are actually a more recent, modernized version of the cocktail. In fact, the blended cocktail is the original, and the shaken one the contemporary incarnation. If you’d like to make one of these shaken pina coladas for yourself, try shaking 1 1/2 ounces golden or añejo rum with 1 ounce coconut cream and 1 ounce pineapple juice, and pouring it over ice. A spritz of lime peel over the cocktail is a perfect finishing touch. Blended or shaken, piña coladas truly can’t be beat for their tropical flavor and efficiency in getting rum in your mouth.
The traditional blended recipe doesn’t use frozen pineapple, but I find it adds a bit more flavor and reduces the amount of ice needed.
As with most tiki-style drinks, this one uses multiple styles of rum to achieve balance and flavor.
1 Place the white rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice and chunks, and ice in a blender. Process until totally blended.
2 Pour into glasses and top with and top with the golden rum (it should float on top).
3 Serve with pineapple leaves or slices as garnish if desired.