Happy National Pina Colada Day!

I would have never thought that an alcoholic beverage would have such a history.  Wikipedia educated me on some of the little known facts about this tropical drink – see below.

History of the Pina Colada!

The earliest known story states that in the 1800s, Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí (El Pirata Cofresí), to boost his crew’s morale, gave them a beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum. This was what would be later known as the famous piña colada. With his death in 1825, the recipe for the piña colada was lost.  (oh no!)

“The bartender widely recognized as being the creator of the piña colada, Mr. Ramón Marrero, created the drink using Don Q rum. After spending months perfecting the recipe, Mr. Marrero created and sold the first piña colada on August 15, 1954, while working as the head bartender at the Caribe Hilton International Hotel, the most popular hotel in Puerto Rico among the 1950s. Mr. Marrero subsequently received numerous awards and recognition for his creation. Notably, in 1978, Mr. Marrero was presented with an award for selling the three-millionth piña colada by Coco López, the maker of the coconut cream used in the drink. On the same day, the government declared the piña colada to be the official drink of Puerto Rico.”

Recipe Time!

Since today is National Pina Colada Day, what’s more fitting than a delicious recipe for this iconic beverage!

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here is Paula Deen’s take on the Pina Colada!

Ingredients

• Ice cubes
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup pineapple chunks
• Sliced pineapple, for garnish, optional
• Maraschino cherry, for garnish, optional

Directions