“Better than slapping Bette Davis in the face,” is how Joan Crawford described the Piña Colada, a guilty pleasure that’s set for a comeback this summer. Sam Morris of Sip & Guzzle, which tops North America’s 50 Best Bars list, describes it as “escapism in a glass – it tastes like vacation”.
The creamy rum classic rose to fame in the ’50s thanks to Puerto Rico’s Caribe Hilton hotel, which served it to guests including Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne. Its name – “strained pineapple” – comes from the Cuban piña colada, a simpler non-alcoholic drink of strained pineapple juice and shaved ice, occasionally mixed with coconut water. The recipe most of us know, though, is the frothy poolside confection of rum and pineapple juice blitzed with ice and lashings of coconut cream.
A Crystal Colada served at the Cloakroom Bar, Selfridges
I’ve always found the traditional Piña Colada a bit sickly – it borders on dessert. But a new generation of lighter twists has made me Colada-curious. At Selfridges’ new Cloakroom Bar, the bestselling cocktail is a clarified Crystal Colada, which keeps the flavour, but not the fat, of the coconut cream and lifts it with pineapple juice and almond soda. Mixologist Chris Moore’s airy Champagne Piña Colada – made with coconut sorbet and champagne – is closer to an Italian Sgroppino in style. Hedonistic but not heavy, it is served at Coupette bar in east London, where he invented it. His choice of garnish is a sprinkle of coconut flakes.
