Blend 50ml of white rum, 60ml of pineapple juice, 30ml of coconut cream and 20ml of coconut syrup with a cup of ice until smooth. The syrup gives you the coconut flavour and the sugar, and the coconut cream gives you the body. You need both, because syrup alone is thin.
Piña colada ingredients and what each does
| Ingredient | Amount | Job in the drink |
|---|---|---|
| White rum | 50ml | The spirit |
| Pineapple juice | 60ml | Acid and fruit |
| Coconut cream or full cream coconut milk | 30ml | Body and richness |
| Solano’s Coconut syrup | 20ml (2 pumps) | Coconut flavour and sweetness |
| Ice | 1 cup | Texture and chill |
Pineapple juice
Rum
Coconut cream
Coconut syrup
Coconut syrup is not cream of coconut
Most traditional recipes use cream of coconut, a thick sweetened product. Coconut syrup is a different thing. It is thin, so it carries flavour and sugar but no richness. That is why the recipe keeps a splash of coconut cream. Shake the tin well first, because the cream separates.
Check your pineapple juice label. If it is a sweetened juice drink rather than 100% juice, drop the syrup to 15ml, or the drink goes sickly.
Making it a mocktail
Leave out the rum and add 20ml more pineapple juice. It still tastes like a piña colada because most of the flavour comes from the pineapple and coconut.
50ml of 40% rum is about 1.6 Australian standard drinks.