The piña colada is a sweet, rum-based cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with a pineapple wedge, a maraschino cherry or both. The piña colada has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico since 1978.
Origin
The name Piña Colada literally means 'strained pinecone', but 'strained pineapple' as a phrase - a reference to the freshly pressed and strained pineapple juice used in the drink's preparation.
Three Puerto Rican bartenders contest the ownership of their national drink. Ramón 'Monchito' Marrero Pérez claims to have first made it at the Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan on 15 August 1952, using the then newly-available Coco López cream of coconut. Coco López was developed in Puerto Rico in 1948 by Don Ramón López-Irizarry, hence the Puerto Rican connection and the 1952 account of the drink's creation. Some say the drink did acquire its name until the 1960s.
Ricardo GarcÃa, who also worked at the Caribe, says that it was he who invented the drink, while Ramón Portas Mingot says he created it in 1963 at the Barrachina Restaurant, 104 Fortaleza Street, Old San Juan; the restaurant stands by his claim to this day.
The Caribe Hilton Hotel sits on a 17-acre peninsula outside San Juan and was the first luxury hotel to open in the region, becoming a popular destination for the rich and famous who helped spread word of the drink.
A key ingredient for a 'Puerto Rican' style Piña Colada is 'cream of coconut', not be confused with coconut cream ('Cuban' style Piña Colada contains no coconut cream). Cream of coconut is made by mixing coconut juice, sugar, emulsifier, cellulose, thickeners, citric acid and salt and is sold in 15oz/425ml cans which make 14 to 25 drinks depending on taste. Once opened the can's contents should be stored in a refrigerator: this may thicken the product, so gentle warming may be required prior to use.
National Piña Colada Day is celebrated on the islands on 10 July.
Other stories
The earliest known story states that in the 19th century, Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresà (El Pirata CofresÃ), to boost his crew's morale, gave them a beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum. This was what would be later known as the famous piña colada. With his death in 1825, the recipe for the piña colada was lost.
The earliest known reference to a drink specifically called a piña colada is from TRAVEL magazine, December 1922:
This quote describes a drink without coconut, as the piña colada was originally just the juice of a fresh pineapple served either strained (colada) or unstrained (sin colar). This evolved into a rum drink, and finally it changed into the drink we know today.
Barcelona-born Hilton employee Ricardo Gracia claims to have invented the contended drink in 1954 under a series of fortuitous circumstances. Rumor has it that while Gracia worked at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan de Puerto Rico, the coconut cutters' union decided to strike. Until that moment, the Puerto Rican drink of choice had been the popular Coco-Loco, a mix of coconut milk, rum and coconut cream served inside a fresh macheted coconut. When the coconut supply was halted by the strike, resourceful Ricardo Gracia made the executive decision to relocate the ingredients of the Coco-Loco inside hollowed out pineapples (evidently the pineapple cutters' union had not followed suit with a strike of their own). Once the coconut flavor and rum came into contact with the sweet acidity of the pineapple pulp, the piña colada was inevitably born.
Barrachina, a restaurant in Puerto Rico, also claims to be the birthplace of the piña colada:
Popularity
This cocktail has been famous in Puerto Rico since 1978, and it became more widely known after Rupert Holmes released his song "Escape", commonly known as "The Piña Colada Song".
Preparation
There are many recipes of how to make a piña colada but the one that his friends tell in the book of José L. DÃaz de Villegas to be the original recipe created by Monchito, is the following:
"Pour 3 ounces of coconut cream, 6 ounces of pineapple juice and 1½ ounces of white rum into a blender or shaker with crushed ice, and blend or shake very well until smooth. Pour into chilled glass, garnish with pineapple wedge and/or a maraschino cherry."
Variations
Different proportions may be used. For example, 1 part rum, 2 each of pineapple juice and coconut cream.
Dark rum may be used.
Amaretto colada â€" amaretto substituted for rum
Lava Flow â€" strawberry daiquiri and piña colada blended together
Staten Island Ferry â€" coconut rum and pineapple juice over ice
Virgin piña colada or piñita colada â€" without the rum
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Piña colada
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