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Ultra-Tropical Piña Colada Recipe

Daniel Gritzer

Taste the tropics, not ice water.

Published: Last Updated:
Ultra-Tropical Pi\u00f1a Colada Recipe

[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

A good piña colada should instantly transport you to warm sandy beaches and turquoise waters. What we don't want is a drink that tastes weak and watery, nor artificially tropical, as if someone dumped a bottle of tanning oil into the blender. This version produces a slushy frozen cocktail full of ripe pineapple and rich coconut flavor. Plus a good, strong hit of rum.

Why It Works

  • Freezing the ingredients first means you can use less ice, leading to a more flavorful, less diluted drink.
  • Ripe fresh pineapple or canned pineapple chunks are more flavorful than pineapple juice, plus their fiber helps thicken the drink.
  • Coconut cream has a more natural flavor than Coco Lopez.
  • Measuring solids by weight gives you better control over the ingredient ratios.

Read more: For the Most Flavorful Piña Colada, Freeze Everything

  • Yield:Makes one large drink
  • Active time: 10 minutes
  • Total time:10 minutes plus 1 hour freezing
  • Rated: 5

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces (140g) very ripe peeled and cored fresh pineapple, frozen pineapple, or drained canned pineapple chunks (see note)
  • 1 3/4 ounces (50ml) unsweetened coconut cream, shaken or stirred well to incorporate fat
  • 1 ounce (30ml) simple syrup (see note)
  • 3/4 to 1 ounce (20-30ml) fresh juice from 1 lime
  • 2 1/2 ounces (75ml) white or gold rum, kept in freezer until freezer-cold
  • 4 ounces (115g) ice cubes
  • Pineapple slice and/or maraschino cherry, for garnish
  • Paper umbrella and straw, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. 1.

    In an airtight plastic container, combine pineapple, coconut cream, simple syrup, and 3/4 ounce lime juice, and transfer to freezer until frozen, at least one hour (the sugar in the mixture may prevent it from freezing solid; this is okay).

  2. 2.

    In a blender, combine frozen pineapple mixture with ice-cold rum and ice and blend until thick and slushy. Taste, then blend in the remaining 1/4 ounce lime juice, if desired. Pour into a large glass, garnish with pineapple and/or a cherry, and serve, with or without an paper umbrella and straw.

  3. 3.

    If you want to make multiple drinks, you can pre-batch up to a double recipe (a blender may not hold much more than that easily) in a single container, then divide after blending; for more than two drinks, use separate containers to hold more servings.

This Recipe Appears In
For the Most Flavorful Piña Colada, Freeze Everything

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Daniel Gritzer Culinary Director

Daniel cooked for years in some of New York's top American, Italian and French restaurants - starting at the age of 13, when he began staging at the legendary restaurant Chanterelle. He spent nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padron peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and made charcuterie in France. When not working on, thinking about, cooking and eating food, he blows off steam (and calories) as an instructor of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art.

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Cocktails
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