23 Sep Piña Colada
Which rum is best for Piña Colada Cocktail?
With strong representation and birthright claims from Puerto Rico, the Piña Colada is most often made with a white rum or a rum on the lighter end of the spectrum. There is an unspoken general rule for the rum to not dominate the profile of the drink which is after all named for the non-alcoholic components rather than the boozy element at its core. What is the best rum for pina colada? Choosing a rum with some barrel age like Dos Maderas 5+3 can enhance its partner ingredients with accents of vanilla, hazelnut, coconut and spice. Many professional bartenders today enjoy mixing the piña colada drink with a split base of a light rum and an aged rum.
About Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum
Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum blends the lighter Baja Rum with the richer Guyana style and ages for 5 years in the Caribbean followed by 3 years in Jerez, Spain in Palo Cortado casks. The smooth character of the 5+3 is awash with pleasant vanilla, hazelnut, coconut and subtle maple. It adds a rich finesse to your cocktail for those of us who enjoy the reminder that the Piña Colada is indeed an adult beverage.
About Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum
Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum blends the lighter Baja Rum with the richer Guyana style and ages for 5 years in the Caribbean followed by 3 years in Jerez, Spain in Palo Cortado casks. The smooth character of the 5+3 is awash with pleasant vanilla, hazelnut, coconut and subtle maple. It adds a rich finesse to your cocktail for those of us who enjoy the reminder that the Piña Colada is indeed an adult beverage.
Ingredients to make Piña Colada using a shaker
While popularized in a blender, today bartenders have also fine tuned individual portion Piña Colada recipes using a standard cocktail shaker.
1 1/2 rum – Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum
1 oz Cream of Coconut
1 oz. Coconut Milk
1.75 oz. fresh pressed pineapple juice
1/4 ounce fresh lime juice (optional)
Piña Colada Recipe - Step by step how to prepare a shaken Piña Colada
1.
Chill a Hurricane or Poco Grande Glass
2.
Break down your ripe pineapple and press your juice
3.
Add all ingredients to your shaker
4.
Fill shaker with cracked ice
5.
Shake vigorously for 20 seconds
6.
Strain into your chilled glass
7.
Fill cocktail with crushed ice or pebble ice
8.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge, a couple pineapple leaves and a paper umbrella
9.
Float .5 oz. Dos Maderas 5+5 Rum on top for extra aroma (optional)
10.
Serve with a reusable straw
Ingredients to make Piña Colada
using a blender
If you plan on using a blender to make a Piña Colada, here are the ingredients to make a one serving of the cocktail:
2 ounces rum – Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum
1.5 oz. Cream of Coconut
1 oz Coconut Milk
2 oz. fresh pressed pineapple juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice (optional)
1.5 cups of crushed ice
Piña Colada Recipe - Step by step how to prepare a blended Piña Colada
1.
Chill a Hurricane or Poco Grande Glass
2.
Break down your ripe pineapple and press your juice
3.
Add all ingredients to your shaker
4.
Blend until smooth
5.
Pour into your chilled glass
6.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge, a couple pineapple leaves and a paper umbrella
7.
Float .5 oz. Dos Maderas 5+5 Rum on top for extra aroma (optional)
8.
Serve with a reusable straw
History of the Classic Piña Colada - Origins of the most iconic rum cocktail
If you don’t enjoy long walks on the beach or getting caught in the rain with a lover, you may also be missing out on one of our Rum World’s most romantic and escapist cocktails, regardless of your affinity or lack thereof for singer/songwriter Rupert Holmes. When we think about the Piña Colada cocktail, we travel in our mind to distant tropical isles and forget about the mundane for awhile. We imagine sunsets glowing for hours and palm trees swaying in the warm sea breezes. The Piña Colada drink was arguably born but not arguably popularized with the rise of blender cocktails in the 1950’s and seems acutely designed to present its imbiber with the ultimate taste challenge. It dares you to drink slowly or suffer a brain freeze. It became the National Drink of Puerto Rico in 1978 and if you’re a child of the 80’s and 90’s, chances are you first came across this extremely likeable drink in its non-alcoholic form at a Friday’s or a Ruby Tuesday or other chain restaurant, and therefore you’ve grown up with the exquisite flavor combination of pineapple & sweet coconut your entire life. And yet, even while so familiar, it retains its mythic escapist character. Like all fantasies, they often only last for as long as you can sip a classic Piña Colada.
Tips for the Piña Colada Cocktail
Tip 1: What coconut milk to use for Piña Colada? The best store brand coconut cream for pina colada is undoubtedly Coco López but you can also easily make your own without all the commercial additives. Darcy O’Neil, founder of the popular blog Art of Drink, recommends to simply combine one can of coconut milk and 1 3/4 cup of sugar over low heat with 1/8th of a tsp. of salt. Stir until fully dissolved and let cool. (Cream of Coconut Recipe).
Tip 2: Fresh pressed pineapples are best for your homemade pina colada when fully ripened because they are at their sweetest. Due to the varying ripeness of the fruit, you can adjust to less or more lime or even leave it out entirely. If blending your cocktail, consider adding some of your freshly cut pineapple and also adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tip 3: Keep your rum in the freezer beforehand to avoid separation later. Try to keep all ingredients chilled before blending for the same purpose.
Tips for the Piña Colada Cocktail
Tip 1: What coconut milk to use for Piña Colada? The best store brand coconut cream for pina colada is undoubtedly Coco López but you can also easily make your own without all the commercial additive4s. Darcy O’Neil, founder of the popular blog Art of Drink, recommends to simply combine one can of coconut milk and 1 3/4 cup of sugar over low heat with 1/8th of a tsp. of salt. Stir until fully dissolved and let cool. (Cream of Coconut Recipe).
Tip 2: Fresh pressed pineapples are best for your homemade pina colada when fully ripened because they are at their sweetest. Due to the varying ripeness of the fruit, you can adjust to less or more lime or even leave it out entirely. If blending your cocktail, consider adding some of your freshly cut pineapple and also adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tip 3: Keep your rum in the freezer beforehand to avoid separation later. Try to keep all ingredients chilled before blending for the same purpose.
Piña Colada Variations and types
Many variations of the Piña Colada involve subbing out the rum base for other spirits like Vodka, Whisky or more bitter and herbal spirits like Green Chartreuse and Fernet Branca. There are also less alcoholic variants subbing in Oloroso Sherry for the Rum. More traditional variations of the piña colada drink involve split basing the rum with both light and dark brands. There are also other variants that call for creating a pineapple syrup with fresh pineapple and sugar in lieu of using the sweet cream of coconut. These recipes generally include more fresh lime juice. Below are a few rum based variants.
Also known as “The Swimming Pool” cocktail, this recipe adds an orange accent with the addition of Blue Curaçao for the main purpose of turning the color of the drink blue.
This Colada variant includes the addition of fresh orange juice and lessens the amount of coconut cream and pineapple.
This Colada variant adds fresh cut banana and often Crème de Banane to the blended recipe.
This proprietary recipe adds both Crème de Menthe and Absinthe in partial substitution to the rum for a stronger minty and herbal character.
FAQ
The United States celebrates National Piña Colada Day annually on July 10th.
The easiest method is to use the blender recipe and multiply each ingredient by a factor of how many servings you want to make. A typical blender probably can make 3-5 servings comfortably. You can likely make a maximum of 2 drinks at the same time in a regular cocktail shaker.
The best glassware is a Poco Grande or Hurricane glass capable of holding 11-15 oz. Ceramic coconut bowls also present well if you happen to have one.
In absence of fresh ripe pineapple, you can use canned but be aware they are often sweetened and will likely throw off the sweetness balance of your drink.
Coco López is the best brand but see above post for instructions on making your own.
Cocktails with Dos Maderas Selección 5+3
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