Virgin Piña Colada
Coconut, pineapple and crushed ice - the holiday without the hangover.
Photo: Pina Colada at Bonaire by DDJJ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
- 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Pineapple juice
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Coconut cream - The thick, sweet kind for cooking rather than the carton of coconut drink
- 15 ml Spoons A tablespoon. Lime juice
- 237 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 237 ml line. Ice - Crushed, and more than you think
- 1 wedge Pineapple (optional)
- 1 cherry Cherry (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Blend the pineapple, coconut cream, lime and ice until smooth, then pour it into a tall glass.
Method
- Put the pineapple juice, coconut cream, lime juice and a cup of crushed ice into a blender.
- Blend on high for 20 seconds, until it is thick enough to hold a straw upright.
- Pour into a chilled hurricane glass, without straining - the texture is the drink.
- Add a pineapple wedge and a cherry on a cocktail stick.
Serve it
Virgin Piña Colada
Ramón Portas Mingot is said to have blended the first Piña Colada at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan in 1954, and the drink has never needed the rum as much as it needs the coconut. The tropical version without it has lived on every children's menu since, which is why the interesting question is not whether to make one but how to make a good one.
Getting it right
Use coconut cream rather than coconut milk or a carton of coconut drink: the thick stuff sets the texture, and a thin substitute gives you pineapple juice with a coconut rumour in it. The lime is not decoration - without a squeeze of it the drink is sweet and flat, and with it the pineapple turns bright. Blend everything with the ice rather than pouring over ice cubes; a Piña Colada that has not been blended is just a glass of juice.
Tasting notes
Rich and cold, with pineapple at the front, coconut rolling in behind it and lime keeping the whole thing honest. It is essentially a dessert that can be drunk through a straw.