The Best Tropical Style Pina Colada

One of my life’s pleasures is concocting cocktails, especially ones that bring nostalgic memories such as this pina colada recipe. From salsa music blaring out of flower filled window boxes to the sound of cheerfulness echoing from within the home – as a feast was being prepared for expected guests – were the sounds you heard as you approached my best friend’s parents’ house in the summer. Add to that was the highly anticipated tropical slushy style cocktail refreshers freshly being blended for the imbibing pleasure of the guests. That’s why recently, when a girlfriend invited us over for dinner and asked me to bring a favorite cocktail, I jumped on the opportunity to go down memory lane, making this perfect for a summer cocktail that I named ‘The Best Tropical Style Pina Colada.”

And today my friend, I’m going to share with you the recipe to this sweet slushy cocktail I learned watching my friends make for years. I guarantee you, this is the best pina colada you’ll ever taste and will become your new special summer go-to cocktail. Don’t wait to go on a tropical vacation to enjoy this, bring the tropical vacation to you!

Ingredients {makes 4 servings}

1 fresh pineapple peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

6 ounces sweetened cream of coconut* (use Coco Lopez)

2 ounces unsweetened coconut milk*

8 ounces white rum

8 ounces dark rum (optional, but necessary;-)

8 ounces coconut rum (optional, but necessary;-)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

3 cups ice (can also be made with pineapple juice instead of water, which can be made ahead of time)

Pineapple wedges, Maraschino cherries, or cocktail caviar for garnish (optional)

Directions

Pour the rum, frozen half fresh pineapple pieces, cream of coconut and coconut milk, lime juice, 3 cups ice into a blender. Blend until smooth.

Divide drink into glasses. Top off each glass with a ½ ounce dark rum.

Finish with a pineapple wedge and maraschino cherries or cocktail caviar as you’d prefer.

TIPS: Things to do ahead: freeze 1/2 of the pineapple pieces (laying flat in the freezer overnight or for a minimum of 3 hours) so the drink mixture can come out in the perfect frozen slushy consistency.

*Make sure to shake cream of coconut and coconut milk before measuring.

The pina colada mixture can also be made ahead of time and be kept in the freezer for 25-35 minutes.

Enjoy!