![piña colada from 'Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks'](https://storage.googleapis.com/smstl/2018622/1510/BTB_Jun16_Round1_1_small.jpg)
Recipe: Piña Colada from 'Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks'
On a recent trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, I made sure to drink cocktails out of coconuts as often as possible. I also learned that Coco Lopez is the bartender’s preferred brand to use when making coconut-based cocktails. In Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks, the authors also praise Coco Lopez as the first mass-produced coconut cream, making tropical fruity drinks like this much simpler to make. It was a tough to find this brand (It wasn’t in regular or specialty grocery stores.), but I eventually found it at Randall’s.
Get a taste of summer at bars all over St. Louis. Click here for our Summer Drinking Preview.
Quality coconut cream necessitates a piña colada. It turned out well, though it's a very sweet drink that didn’t need the additional simple syrup the recipe called for. Fresh lime juice also would help to balance that sweetness. The authors do offer a Cuban take on a piña colada that added lime juice, but it cut the coconut cream. Still, when you pour this frothy cocktail into a coconut adorned with a paper umbrella, pineapple wedge and a bendy straw, quibbles like these don't seem to matter much.
Skill level: Easy. Most recipes require only a few ingredients.
This book is for: People who really want to be on vacation right now.
Other recipes to try: Isle of Manhattan Fizz – a mix of gin, rum, coconut cream, orange flower water, club soda and pineapple and lime juices.
The verdict: Check back next week, when this piña colada takes on the next summer cocktail.
Piña Colada
1 serving
2 oz. white rum
3 oz. coconut puree
1 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. pineapple juice
½ cup crushed ice
Pineapple for garnish
• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Pour into a tiki bowl or frozen pineapple shell. Garnish with a pineapple wedge or a cocktail umbrella. For more of a kick, whip shake ingredients and serve over crushed ice.
• To make the Cuban version, omit the coconut puree and add ¾ ounce lime juice
Reprinted with permission from Sterling Epicure
Most Recent
Drink this savory martini at The Lucky Accomplice in St. Louis
The Lucky Accomplice’s bar manager Corey Moszer is thinking outside the box …