Puerto Rico’s frozen rum classic gets its turn on Saturday, July 10, 2027, National Pina Colada Day. Adults 21 and over can raise a glass responsibly. Everyone else can blend one without the rum.
When Is National Piña Colada Day?
Mark July 10. Puerto Rico honors its national drink on the same day, Metro Puerto Rico reports. On the mainland it’s an informal drink day with no time off.
Three Bars, One Drink
Nobody is credited with founding the drink day. The cocktail’s birth is fought over, though, with more than one spot in Puerto Rico claiming it, History.com reports.
San Juan’s Caribe Hilton tells the best-known version. Hotel managers wanted a signature drink with the island’s flavors. Bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero reportedly spent three months testing hundreds of mixes, then served the winner at the Beachcombers Bar in 1954.
Marrero kept pouring it for 35 years, until he retired in 1989.
Ricardo Gracia, a Spaniard who also tended bar at the Caribe Hilton, told another story. A coconut-cutters’ strike that year, he said, kept him from serving it in a sliced coconut. So he used a hollowed-out pineapple. He told Coastal Living the story in 2005.
Barrachina, a restaurant about two miles west in Old San Juan, points to 1963. A marble plaque at its entrance credits Spanish mixologist Ramón Portas Mingot with the first one.
Older still is a pirate legend. Roberto Cofresí, a 19th-century Puerto Rican pirate, supposedly gave his crew rum mixed with pineapple juice and coconut milk. No record supports it.
Coconut cream and a name
None of it works without cream of coconut. Ramón López-Irizarry, an agriculture professor at the University of Puerto Rico, developed Coco López in 1954.
Gracia also explained the name. In Spanish, piña colada means “strained pineapple.”
In 1978, the island declared it the official national drink. Then, in December 1979, Rupert Holmes’s song “Escape” reached number one, the last Hot 100 chart-topper of the 1970s. His record company added “The Piña Colada Song” as a subtitle.
What the Drink Means to Puerto Rico
For Puerto Rico, the cocktail is tied to its 1950s hotel and bar scene. The day is a fun excuse to learn that history, glass in hand or not.
Knowing what’s in your glass matters, too. One U.S. standard drink holds about 14 grams of pure alcohol, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism explains. That equals a 1.5-ounce pour of 40% spirits.
Size can mislead. A big frozen cocktail with a heavy pour of rum may hold more than one standard drink, NIAAA cautions.
Enjoying National Pina Colada Day Responsibly
- Make sure everyone drinking is 21 or older, the legal minimum in every state.
- Measure the rum with a jigger instead of free-pouring.
- Follow History.com’s recipe: 2 ounces of rum, 1 ounce each of cream of coconut and heavy cream, and 6 ounces of pineapple juice. Blend it with half a cup of crushed ice.
- Leave out the rum for a virgin version the whole table can share.
- Sip water between drinks, and line up a sober ride home.
- Top each glass with fresh pineapple and a cherry, the classic garnish.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is a classic piña colada?
History.com’s recipe uses a 12-ounce glass. Bigger glasses can hide extra rum, so keep track of each pour.
When did the drink reach the mainland?
By 1968, a Polynesian restaurant in New Orleans was selling it as a “refreshing new rum grog.”
Why is the drinking age the same everywhere?
A 1984 federal law, the Uniform Drinking Age Act, set the standard, and every state follows it.
How much wine equals one standard drink?
Five ounces of 12% wine. Twelve ounces of 5% beer counts the same.