Virgin Piña Colada
A twist on Piña Colada
Prep time:
Pineapple, cream of coconut and ice blended until creamy. The most-ordered mocktail there is, and with real pineapple nobody notices what is missing.
Ingredients
- 120 ml pineapple juice
- 60 ml cream of coconut
- 2 chunks of fresh pineapple
- 15 ml lime juice
- 1 cup of ice
Preparation
- Put the pineapple, juice, cream of coconut and lime in the blender.
- Add the ice and blend for thirty seconds, until smooth.
- Check the texture: if it is runny, add ice; if it will not turn, a splash of juice.
- Serve in a tall glass with a pineapple wedge on the rim.
Bartender’s notes
What is an alcohol-free piña colada called?
Three ways, and all three are right. “Virgin Piña Colada” is the most common on menus, because “virgin” is what a bar calls any drink with the alcohol taken out. “Piña colada sin alcohol” is what you order in Spanish. And “Nada Colada” is the pun some bars use — a piña colada with nothing in it. Order it by any of the three and you will be understood.
Does it have to be blended?
No, and there are two legitimate versions. The blended one is the one in the photos: ice in the blender until it is a thick slush, which is how it is served in the Caribbean. The shaken one is less known and, for many, better: the same ingredients in a shaker with ice, shaken hard and strained over fresh ice. It comes out thinner and with a sharper flavour, because it is not carrying the water from all that crushed ice. If you have no blender, this is the good version — not a workaround.
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