Four Tips for Making the Perfect Piña Colada

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"Yes I like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne"
- Rupert Holmes

If you've heard this song, then you know this drink comes to mind every time you listen to it.

Piña Coladas. Photo: Cosmetica Universe

A Piña Colada is a delicious cocktail made with rum, coconut milk or coconut cream and pineapple juice. It can be blended or shaken with ice (like we are about to do). It is no wonder Rupert Holmes featured it in his song titled Escape (The Piña Colada Song).

You can always buy a ready-to-drink Piña Colada mix, but this recipe for the cocktail is really easy to make and takes only a few minutes to prepare.

Recipe makes one cocktail.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Rum
• 2 ounces Pineapple juice
• 1+half ounce Coconut cream
• Pineapple wedge - to garnish
• Maraschino cherry - to garnish
• Cocktail shaker
• Ice

How to make

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Pour the ingredients into it.
3. Shake properly.
4. Strain into a glass.
5. Garnish with the pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry.

Photo: Vintage Kitty

Tips:

• The ingredients you use to make your Piña Colada may make or break it.
• Make sure you use a good brand of white rum. You can start with original white rum to know your proportions and then play around with flavoured rum.
• Use fresh pineapple juice. If you do not have a juicer, then you can buy it from a store.
• Make sure not to confuse coconut cream with coconut milk. Coconut milk, which has more water than coconut cream, will make the cocktail too runny, which can work in a blended Piña Colada but not a shaken one like this. If it is coconut milk you have, you can skim the milk and get the cream from the top. Your best option is cream of coconut which is rich, thick and has sugar.
• Shake it like a polaroid picture. The key to making a Piña Colada in a cocktail shaker is to shake it properly for about 20 seconds to allow all the ingredients mix together. The drink will come out creamy.

Enjoy your cocktail and have a lovely weekend.