Piña colada cocktail in a glass, with pineapple wedge garnish

Piña colada

Name: Piña colada
Total time: 10 min
Yield: Serves 1
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: 100g caster sugar; 60ml white rum; 75ml pineapple juice; 50ml coconut cream; pineapple wedge to garnish

Hannah Guinness

Published: February 10, 2022 at 2:25 PM

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Serves 1

Easy

Total time: 10 mins

A star rating of 5 out of 5.7 ratingsRate

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Transport yourself to the tropics with our perfect piña colada recipe. This creamy rum cocktail is best drunk on holiday, next to the pool, ideally from a pineapple...

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Alternatives

Complete the dish

Mix up a refreshing piña colada, then check out more rum cocktails, including our frozen strawberry daiquiri, mojito, mai tai and zombie cocktail. We also have more retro cocktail recipes here.

Looking for a non-alcoholic version? Check out our virgin piña colada or pineapple smoothie.

Our drinks expert, Hannah Guinness, shares her at-home bar tips to help you take your piña colada to the next level.

What is a piña colada?

Creamy, fruity and delightfully retro, this drink of coconut cream, white rum and pineapple is the national drink of Puerto Rico, where it was invented in the mid 20th century. After tasting it for the first time, Joan Crawford supposedly deemed the drink “better than slapping Bette Davis in the face”. Make of that what you will.

Piña colada ingredients

Invest in a quality white rum for this recipe – we’ve tried and tested the best premium rums for you.

Bar hacks and garnishes

You’ll need a blender for this recipe – and make sure you don’t use too much ice when blending as this will make the cocktail watery. A piña colada is classically served in a hurricane glass.

Take your skills to the next level with this handy cocktail kit from the olive shop. Completed with easy-to-use cobbler shaker, double jigger, fine mesh strainer and bar spoon, it has everything you need to make next-level drinks at home. Buy here.

Make it a non-alcoholic piña colada

For a convincing alternative to rum, try mixing 3-4 tbsp of apple juice with a dash of almond extract.

Classic piña colada recipe

Ingredients

100g caster sugar
60ml white rum
75ml pineapple juice
50ml coconut cream
pineapple wedge

to garnish

Method

step 1

Put the sugar and 100ml water in a pan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Cool. This will make more than you need but will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
step 2

Put the rest of the ingredients, 2 tsp of the sugar syrup and a small handful of ice in a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour into a piña colada cocktail glass, with more ice if you like, and garnish with a pineapple wedge before serving.

Ever made a piña colada cocktail tart? Try our recipe here

Pina Colada Dessert Recipe

Authors

Hannah GuinnessSenior sub editor and drinks writer

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