Banana Colada

Name: Banana Colada
Prep time: 4 min
Total time: 4 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: White rum — 60 ml (2 oz); Banana liqueur — 15 ml (1/2 oz); Pineapple juice — 120 ml (4 oz); Banana (preferably overripe) — 1 pc; Cream of coconut — 30 ml (1 oz)

Blend ∙ 4 min ∙ 9.6% ABV ∙

The Banana Colada is a blended frozen mix of white rum, banana liqueur, pineapple juice, fresh banana and cream of coconut — a banana-forward Piña Colada. Thick and frosty, ripe banana and coconut cream layer over bright pineapple, finishing sweet and mellow rather than boozy — an easy poolside sipper.

Ingredients

Servings

Garnish

Banana chunk

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Blend all ingredients with 1.5 scoops of crushed ice: White rum 60 mlBanana liqueur 15 mlPineapple juice 120 mlBanana 1 pcCream of coconut 30 ml
Pour into the chilled glass
Garnish with a banana chunk on the rim

Tips

Use a fully ripe, spotted banana rather than a firm one; overripe fruit blends smoother and prevents a starchy, chalky texture.
Blend with about a cup of crushed ice (not cubes) for 20-30 seconds until fully smooth, since ice cubes leave a gritty, unblended slush.
Shake or stir the cream of coconut before measuring, as it separates in the can and settling causes an under-sweet, thin-tasting blend.
Pour into the hurricane glass immediately after blending and top with the banana chunk garnish before the mixture starts to separate or melt.

History

The Banana Colada is a variation on the Piña Colada, swapping in banana for part of the pineapple-and-coconut base. The Piña Colada itself is credited to Puerto Rico, most commonly to Ramón "Monchito" Marrero, a bartender at the Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, who is said to have settled on the blend of rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice in 1954 after being asked to create a signature welcome drink; the Caribe Hilton itself has also dated the creation to 1952. The claim is contested: fellow Caribe Hilton bartender Ricardo García said he devised the same drink around the same period after running out of coconuts, and Ramón Portas Mingot of the Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan said he created the drink, under the Piña Colada name, in 1963. Some island lore traces an earlier, unverified antecedent to the 19th-century pirate Roberto Cofresí, who is said to have mixed rum, coconut, and pineapple for his crew before his 1825 death, after which the recipe was lost. Puerto Rico declared the Piña Colada its national drink in 1978. The Banana Colada follows the same blended, tropical-drink formula but replaces the classic pineapple-forward, coconut-cream build with banana as the defining fruit.