Piña Colada (Cuban Style)
A fruity and sweet rum cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 8.9% ABV ∙
The Piña Colada (Cuban Style) is aged Caribbean rum shaken with pineapple juice, fresh lime and sugar syrup, served in a hollowed pineapple, with no coconut.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Caribbean aged rum 60 mlPineapple juice 120 mlLime juice 15 mlSugar syrup 10 ml
- Strain into the ice-filled hollowed pineapple
- Garnish with a lime wedge
Tips
- Pineapple juice varies in sweetness, so taste it first and adjust the 10 ml of sugar syrup to match the fruit.
History
The Piña Colada (Cuban Style) is the older of the two drinks that share the name: a shaken pineapple Daiquiri without coconut. It traces to the earliest documented use of the name, in the December 1922 issue of Travel magazine. The magazine portrayed it as a Havana specialty of freshly pressed pineapple juice shaken with ice, sugar, lime, and Bacardi rum. Its "strained pineapple" style is closer to the literal meaning of the name than the creamy modern drink most people now expect.
The creamy, coconut-laced Piña Colada that later became famous came three decades later, in Puerto Rico. The Cachaça Piña Colada is a modern riff on that coconut drink, with Brazilian cachaça in place of or alongside the rum.
FAQ
What are the ingredients in a Cuban-style Piña Colada?
60 ml aged Caribbean rum, 120 ml pineapple juice, 15 ml fresh lime juice and 10 ml sugar syrup. There is no coconut cream and no blender.
How do you make a Cuban-style Piña Colada?
Shake the rum, pineapple juice, lime juice and sugar syrup hard with ice, then strain into an ice-filled hollowed pineapple and garnish with a lime wedge. Shaking aerates the juices and mixes them fully with the rum, so nothing separates in the glass.
Is the Piña Colada a Cuban drink?
The original was. The earliest documented use of the name, in a 1922 Travel magazine piece, describes a Havana drink of pineapple juice, lime, sugar and rum, the style this recipe follows. The creamy coconut version became famous later, in Puerto Rico.
What are common Piña Colada mistakes?
The most common mistake is over-diluting it by shaking with too little ice or for too long. Another is adding all the syrup without tasting, since pineapple juice varies in sweetness.
