Summer Cocktail: Pina Colada

    

     The Pina Colada, is one of the most debated cocktails as to its origin, but none the less, one of the more popular cocktails anywhere.     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.   This story is credible because the piña colada contains coconut cream as one of the primary ingredients, and the coconut cream of "Coco López" (which is the pioneer) was invented in 1954 in the University of Puerto Rico by Ramón López Irizarry.   The cocktail has been bastardized through the use of mixes and bad booze, but even a bad pina colada is not all that bad.    

     The best way to get a quality pina colada is to start with quality fresh ingredients and take the time to blend it thoroughly.    Find a recipe that suits your pallate and stick with it, this usually yields the best results.    The best recipe that I have ever run across is on that came from Cruz Bay dock area of St. Johns in the U.S. Virgin Islands.    It has a mildly spiced flavor and the fresh nutmeg on the top took it to an entire new level.

Pina Colada according to Bahama Bob

·         2 oz. Spiced Rum of your liking

·         1 1/2 oz. Cream of Coconut

·         ¾ oz. Pineapple Juice

Place approximately 1 ½ scoops of ice into the blender along with the rest of the ingredients, and blend until really smooth.    Place the mixture into a pint glass and top with fresh nutmeg, and orange slice and a cherry. 

     This is the way that I make them at the Rum Bar here in Key West, and they seem to be extremely popular with the guests.   You can try all different recipes, but this one reall works well.    No matter how you make them, the is a great patio cocktail for an extremely hot afternoon or evening.   ;o)