How to Make a Piña Colada: Tropical Cocktail Tutorial

Get everything onto the bar before you start. The whole drink takes under five minutes from this point and you do not want to be opening a coconut milk can with one hand while pineapple juice runs across the counter.

You need a light rum, a small bottle or carafe of cream of coconut, an opened can of full-fat coconut milk, fresh pineapple juice, and a bag or pitcher of crushed ice. On the tool side, set out a large shaking tin, a double jigger, and your immersion blender. A hurricane glass or pineapple-shape tiki glass goes in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.

Pour 2 oz of light rum into the shaking tin. Anders uses The Real McCoy 3-year from Barbados, which is dry, clean, and finishes a little dry on the back. Any light Puerto Rican rum like Don Q Cristal or Bacardi Superior also works.

Use the 2-oz side of a double jigger and fill it to the top - that little dome of surface tension above the rim is the right amount. If you want a stronger drink, you can add a half-ounce dark-rum float at the end after garnish, but build the base with light rum first.

Switch to the 1-oz side of the jigger and pour 1 oz of cream of coconut into the tin on top of the rum. Cream of coconut is not the same as coconut milk - it is a thick, sweetened coconut syrup, and it is what makes a piña colada taste like a piña colada.

Coco Lopez is the original and what Anders recommends if you go store-bought. If you have time to make your own, stir 1.75 cups white sugar into one 13.5-oz can of unsweetened full-fat coconut milk with a pinch of salt over low heat until fully dissolved. Either way works.

Now pour 1 oz of full-fat coconut milk into the tin. This is the ingredient most piña colada recipes skip, and it is the texture move. The cream of coconut brings the sweetness; the coconut milk brings the silky, dairy-style body without actual dairy.

Use the unsweetened canned variety. Shake the can hard before opening to combine the solid white cream layer on top with the watery liquid below. If you want a richer drink and dairy is fine, swap in 1 oz of heavy cream instead.

Pour 6 oz of pineapple juice into the tin. This is six times the volume of any other ingredient, and that is intentional - Anders found a lot of equal-parts recipes turn out too coconut-forward, so the pineapple takes the lead here.

Fresh pineapple juice is the upgrade that makes the whole drink. Run a peeled, cored pineapple through a juicer or blend chunks and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Canned unsweetened pineapple juice still tastes very good and is the realistic option for a weeknight - just check the label and skip anything with added sugar.

Scoop in 8 to 10 oz of crushed ice - about two generous scoops. Crushed ice blends faster and gives you that classic slushy piña colada texture. If you only have cubes, crush them in a Lewis bag with a mallet first.

Drop the immersion blender straight into the tin all the way to the bottom and run it for about 10 to 15 seconds. Move it up and down gently to catch all the ice. You will see the mixture foam up and turn pale yellow and fluffy - that is the sign it is done. Stop before it gets warm.

Grab the chilled glass straight from the freezer and pour the blended piña colada in. A hurricane glass is traditional; a pineapple-shape tiki glass leans into the iconic look and is what Anders uses.

Garnish with two fresh pineapple wedges tucked into the rim, two or three pineapple fronds standing up tall, and a pair of cocktail cherries on a pick across the top. Add a metal or paper straw. Serve right away while the drink is still cold and foamy. The first sip should be cold, sweet, bright pineapple up front, with the coconut and rum coming behind it.