Follow EYC Mag on IG

Back in 1954, Ramón “Monchito” Marrero created the popular vacation cocktail, the Piña Colada, while bartending at the Caribe Hilton in Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Caribe Hilton still proudly stands and is located on Calle San Gerónimo in Old San Juan.

As the story goes, Tio Monchi (he probably was an Uncle of mine, distant or otherwise jajaja) wanted to capture and blend the flavors of The Island and offer something special for his guests. He blended white Puerto Rican Rum (I use Bacardi but Don Q, the top-selling rum from Ponce, PR is a classic), sweet coconut cream, pineapple juice and crushed ice to create the world’s first Piña Colada.

The delicious cocktail became very popular with tourists and locals. In 1978, nearly 25 years later after he perfected it, Ramón “Monchito” Marrero’s Piña Colada was named Puerto Rico’s national drink. Ramón Marrero continued to serve Piña Coladas at the Caribe Hilton in Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico until 1989.

My Piña Colada Recipe

has a major difference from the original recipe- I use organic coconut cream (which is just organic coconut and water) and not cream of coconut (which is super sweet and filled with additives I do not want). Coconut cream is unsweetened so I can control the amount of cane sugar or honey that I use without all those additives.

Ingredients

• White Rum (the original recipe uses Gold or Dark rum)

• 12oz of Coconut Cream (original recipe uses Cream of Coconut)

• Fresh Pineapple chunks or Pineapple Juice

• ¾ cups of Cane Sugar (omit if using Cream of Coconut)

• Lots of Ice

• Pineapple to garnish

Place all the ingredients with the quantities that YOU like and blend it until smooth and frothy. Serve very cold!