Whether you like piña coladas while getting caught in the rain, at a Mexican cantina, or on a Bahamian beach, the best way to enjoy a colada’s minimal ingredients is to make your own juice.

Homemade Juice Elevates a Tropical Bar-Menu Staple

Juicing and living-food fans know the health benefits of drinking the raw, liquidy labors of the fruits they love. Raw foodist or not, you can probably remember a time when you were pleasantly surprised to be served a glass of freshly squeezed something, whether it was in a restaurant or your grandparents’ kitchen.

For some reason, fresh juice conjures homeyness — the feeling that the person serving you cared enough about your belly to slice and squeeze those citrus fruits, or run pineapples through a juicer.

Fresh mixers enhance your home bar

Breakfast isn’t the only time you can enjoy such healthful libations. If you love your juicer, making your own bar mixers at home provides more satisfaction than a swank watering hole blending fresh this and that.

The piña colada is a great way to experiment with the simplicity of adding fresh juice to your adult beverage repertoire because it only requires juicing one ingredient: a pineapple. When you mix it with a scant few ingredients, you can achieve the classic taste of this tropical drink without the artificial everythings in pre-made mixes synonymous with piña coladas.

Coconut Pineapple Colada

Ingredients

  • ½ large pineapple, peeled* and quartered
  • 2 tablespoons coconut cream
  • 3 tablespoons coconut rum
  • 16 ounces (500 ml) soda water
  • 1 cup crushed ice

(If you’re using a Breville juicer, no need to peel the rind first.)

Instructions

  1. Process the pineapple using your juice extractor.
  2. Gently stir in coconut cream, rum, and soda water.
  3. Scoop ice into four tall glasses, add juice mixture, and mix well to combine. Serve immediately.