Garnish for a Pina Colada: what actually works
The short version: a coconut sugar rim and a few edible petals. The paper umbrella is optional and, honestly, retired.
A Pina Colada is pale, thick and sweet, which makes it one of the easiest drinks to finish well. It is a blank canvas. It is also the drink most likely to be handed over with a plastic monkey clipped to the glass.
Rim it, because the drink is pale
The reason a Pina Colada looks flat in a photo is that it is one colour from top to bottom. A rim fixes that in one move, and it is the first thing you taste.
Our Pineapple Coconut Glitter Rim Dust is built for this drink: sweet, tropical and with enough shimmer to give the glass an edge. A $15 pouch does around 25 drinks.
Run a lime wedge around the outside edge only, roll the glass sideways through the dust, then stand it up for a minute to set. Wetting the inside is what sends sugar into the drink.
Then something on top
A Pina Colada is served thick, which means the surface will hold a garnish rather than swallowing it. That is unusual and worth using.
A pinch of dried edible florets scattered over the top gives you colour against the white without adding anything sweet. Summer Bloom is the obvious choice here. A $15.99 pouch goes a very long way, because you are using a pinch at a time, and stored properly the florets keep for up to 24 months.
If you want citrus instead, a dried lime wheel on the rim cuts through the coconut and stops the drink reading as purely sweet.
Pick one. A rim plus petals, or a rim plus a lime wheel. Both plus a pineapple wedge plus an umbrella is where it starts looking like a theme party.
The recipe
Ingredients (per serve)
- 120ml pineapple juice
- 60ml white rum
- 60ml coconut cream
- 1 cup ice
- F N Lemons Pineapple Coconut Glitter Rim Dust
- F N Lemons Summer Bloom dried edible florets
Method
- Wet the outside rim of your glass with lime and roll it through the Pineapple Coconut Glitter Rim Dust.
- Blend the pineapple juice, rum, coconut cream and ice for about 30 seconds.
- Pour into the glass and scatter a pinch of dried edible florets over the top.
For a crowd
The Mr Consistent Pina Colada Mixer does the base for you, so you add rum and ice and blend. Ten serves from one bottle, and the rim and the petals still do the work of making each one look made rather than poured.
Everything we make is handcrafted in small batches here in the Waikato, using real fruit and quality ingredients. Browse the edible florets, with free shipping on orders over $100.