Allegedly first created by Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí during the 19th Century – serving his crew a morale boosting concoction of coconut, pineapple and white rum – the cocktail didn’t become known as the Piña Colada until the mid 20th Century. Caribe Hilton bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero also claims to have invented the Piña Colada, settling on the recipe in 1954, which he felt captured the true nature and essence of Puerto Rico. Countless riffs on the classic recipe have surfaced over the past 60 years, though the classic ingredients – pineapple, coconut, white rum – typically remain.
With annual rum sales having topped £1 billion in the UK, for the first time, the spirit is now one of the UK’s most popular. With a subtle blend of the finest aged white Jamaican rums and refreshing tropical coconut flavour, Koko Kanu is a premium Jamaican white rum flavoured with coconut – arguably the most useful plant known to humankind, providing food and building materials in most global tropical regions. The rum is aged for a minimum of one year, then charcoal filtered to achieve the crystal-clear colour. The brand’s take on the classic Piña Colada, ‘Koko Kolada’, is a light, contemporary twist, exceedingly simple to recreate at home.
50ml Koko Kanu, Jamaican rum with coconut flavour
50ml Pineapple Juice
Pinch of nutmeg
Add all ingredients to a Boston shaker on ice.
Shake and double strain, then pour the liquid into a chilled coupe glass.
Garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Koko Kanu is available online from Amazon.co.uk, RRP £19.65.
RELATED
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/food-drink/the-weekly-cocktail-recipe-yellow-fairy-the-rum-runner/09/03/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/food-drink/cocktail-recipe-appleton-estate-mai-tai/10/08/
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/food-drink/the-weekly-cocktail-recipe-cottons-pina-colada/06/08/
