Piña Verde
Blend ∙ 4 min ∙ 11% ABV ∙
The Piña Verde is a Piña Colada riff that swaps the rum for green Chartreuse, blended with pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and lime.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Blend all ingredients with a scoop of crushed ice: Herbal liqueur (e.g., Green Chartreuse) 45 mlPineapple juice 45 mlCream of coconut 20 mlLime juice 15 ml
- Pour into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a mint sprig
Tips
- Blend with a scoop of crushed ice just until smooth and pour straight into the chilled Collins glass; there is nothing to strain.
- Stir or shake the cream of coconut before measuring; it separates as it sits.
History
The Piña Verde was created by San Diego bartender Erick Castro at his bar Polite Provisions. It began as a bartending trick of floating green Chartreuse over a Piña Colada. Later, as a Beefeater Gin brand ambassador, Castro experimented with swapping the rum for gin before realizing that what he really liked was the interplay between the Chartreuse and coconut. He eventually dropped the base spirit entirely and let the herbal liqueur take its place.
The drink went on the Polite Provisions menu in 2012, the bar's first year, where staff nicknamed it the "Greenya Colada." Castro later brought it to the East Coast at Boilermaker, his New York bar.
The drink is a riff on the Piña Colada, the Puerto Rican pineapple-coconut-rum cocktail whose own invention is disputed among several claimants. The Cachaça Piña Colada is another riff, made with Brazilian cachaça. Piña Verde keeps the pineapple juice and coconut cream of the original but swaps out the rum for green Chartreuse, giving it a stronger herbal, botanical edge in place of the classic's rum-forward sweetness.
