This icy drink has a taste for tropical holidays we all need

I would like to offer some basic facts on myself:

• I sometimes like being caught in the rain … when it’s hot.
• I am not in yoga (although I was).
• I’m almost sure I have half a question. Maybe even a little more.
• Make love at midnight? My schedule is flexible, that’s for sure.
• And yes, I am indeed like Piña Coladas. At least, I like the good ones.

These are important answers to important questions in life. What is not answered is how To make a good Piña Colada. It is difficult for some reasons. The first is that Piña CODAS requires ingredients that are very variable of quality, which means that it is difficult to create a recipe that gives a coherent result. The second is that it is a frozen drink, and all frozen drinks share a similar problem: how do you cool the drink with enough ice to make it Slushy without dilut it too much in the process?

Most of the recipes solve the first problem in the most dedicated way, calling for canned ingredients like pineapple juice and coconut lopez, which, although not large in the flavors, are extremely consistent. They may not make the best Piña Colada, but they will make a good one.

I played with solutions to that and I found answers, which I will come back to an ingredient basis by ingredients.

Rum: choose your favorite

Let’s start with alcohol. I’m going to be honest – it’s the component that interests me the least. Not because I do not care about the rum, but because I think most of us at home will make the drink within the limits of our bar at home.

If you look at some of Piña Colada’s recipes for the best bartenders, you will often notice that they like to mix specific rums in order to nail their most perfect version of the drink. But the barmans have the luxury of having access to several bottles of things at the same time. At home, we use what we have, replenishment when we can, and that’s it. Recipes that call for mixing three different rums can work in a fancy cocktail bar, but it is simply not a realistic option for the rest of us.

My feeling is that you can make a good Piña Colada with many types of rum, whether white, aged or a combination; Everyone brings their own personality to the party. Use everything you have – I promise you will like it. One thing that is important: add enough for you to taste it. I like a flow of about 2.5 ounces for a single portion of the drink.

Pineapple: use fresh or canned pineapple

The pineapple is, I think, one of the most delicate elements of a Piña Colada, because if the fresh juice and / or the fruits are generally better, the pineapple can vary enormously in terms of maturity, sweetness and acidity. If you make the drink with completely fresh fruit, you will have to tinker more components such as sugar and lemon juice to compose the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. This can be delicate for many people at home, because it requires making adjustments on site – sometimes drastic if drastic if pineapple is a failure – with each new lot. No wonder most recipes simply call a dole box.

I have experienced a handful of options, especially using only fresh pineapple, canned pineapple juice and canned pineapple pieces, both alone and in combination with each other.

My final recipe offers some options: fresh pineapple pieces or canned pineapple pieces with some of their juice.

When ripe, fresh pineapple is the best tasting, so if you can get your hands on a really ripe specimen, this is the way to follow. If you cannot, I found that the pineapple pieces can offer a better pineapple flavor than the juice can alone.

Coconut: Use unwell

There is a legitimate argument to make for Coco Lopez, the coconut cream canned and ultra-suckled. Of course, it has a taste for tanning oil, but it practically becomes the drink business card. There is a real nostalgia associated with this. But in the end, as much as I can appreciate and often take advantage of what it brings to a Piña Colada, it has a taste for tanning oil. I want my recipe to have the taste of coconut. Real coconut.

I guess I could have emphasized an elaborate sub-relief to transform a fresh coconut into coconut puree, but the Piña Coladas are supposed to be fun, not to work. I will leave the house purees to the barmans who have time to do so. It is much easier to open a box of unwells coconut cream, which is thicker and more concentrated than coconut milk.

Ice: use less

Ice is a difficult ingredient but necessary in any ice drink because the more you add, the cooler and slush, but it also becomes more diluted. Add too little and your Piña Colada is cold but not frozen. Add too much and your drink is frozen, but its taste pale in relation to what it could be, as a memory of a trip to Puerto Rico that you took 10 years ago compared to the island in the flesh. This can be a frustrating balance and difficult to find, and sometimes he has the impression that there is no Sweet Spot.

But I had an idea: what if I freeze my pineapple pieces and everything else – rum, coconut cream, additional splash of lime juice and sugar – then cut on the ice? I could get an incredibly Slysishy and trophy flavor without having to add so much water in the form of ice.

It is as simple as pushing a bottle of rum into the freezer, and providing the rest of the ingredients and also putting them to freeze. Due to its high alcohol content, the rum does not freeze, but it will be enough cold so that it does not warm the other components when you mix everything together. Combined with the fiber in the pieces of real pineapple (as opposed to juice of a nature), the result is a much thicker and more slush piña colada.

The rest is simple: throw everything into a mixer, pour it into a glass and … Do not forget the small paper umbrella. You really need it.

July 2017

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