Welcome back to the second new cocktail post and once again I have two drinks to talk about. This past weekend had two cocktail holidays to celebrate: National Piña Colada Day and National Mojito Day.
Take a look at the two recipes below and enjoy making a couple of great tropical drinks!
The Piña Colada
This drink was created by Ramón “Monchito” Marrero in 1954 at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico. He served this cocktail personally for 35 years while he worked at the hotel. In 1978, the cocktail was named the official drink of Puerto Rico. This year the cocktail celebrates its 66th birthday!
Here is the recipe I use for my Piña Colada:
2 oz. light rum
1 ½ oz. coconut cream
1 ½ oz. pineapple juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker tin and shake with ice. Strain into a tall glass filled with pebble ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.
It’s a simple, yet, very tasty drink.
The Mojito
The Mojito is a very old Cuban drink. It started from farmers adding mint, sugar and lime to mask the noxious flavor of very raw, not so great rum.
Eventually, the spirit became more refined thanks to companies like Bacardi and the drink became more sophisticated and drinkable. Here is the recipe I use for my Mojitos:
3 mint leaves
2 oz. white rum
¾ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. simple syrup
Muddle the lime juice, simple syrup and mint in the bottom of your glass.
Add rum and ice. Top off with club soda and give the drink a gentle stir to mix things up.
Garnish with a lime wheel and a few more sprigs of mint.
Have you had either of these cocktails? Have you had them while in Puerto Rico or Cuba? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!