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
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Pineapple juice
- 240 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 240 ml line. Coconut cream - The thick, sweet kind for cooking rather than the carton of coconut drink
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Lime juice
- 1420 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 1420 ml line. Ice - Crushed, and more than you think
- 6 wedges Pineapple (optional)
- 6 cherries 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
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 2.47 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- 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
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
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.