Pina Colada - Day - curious holidays from all over the world

As part of the curious public holidays from around the world, we stumbled upon Pina Colada Day on July 10th. The Brummelbären are currently on the road in the Caribbean/Havana/Cuba. Even if the MSC cruise ship is anything but recommendable: the Piña Colada tastes good! Just that Caribbean feeling!

Wer hat´s erfunden?

As is so often the case with these delicious drinks, it is not entirely clear who invented the curious holiday. And certainly not why the holiday was put on July 10 of each year. But it's still nice...

Teddy Bear Picnic Day is also celebrated on July 10th. Well, grumpy bears on teddy bear picnic day in the Caribbean with Piña Colada - if that doesn't make a connection!

But it could also be that a US bartender started Piña Colada Day in the late 1950s with his recipe and his coconut cream and pineapple.

Where does the name Pina Colada actually come from?

Piña Colada with its ingredients and recipe literally means piña = pineapple and colar = sift.

The invention of the name of the cocktail Piña Colada takes credit for Caribe Hilton's Beachcomber Bar at the Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico. There the cocktail of rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice is said to have been invented on August 15, 1954.

However, cocktail historians who deal with such questions have doubts about this date or the information at all. Neither the recipe nor the date has ever been proven.

The name of the Bar La Barrachina in San Juan also comes up in this context. A bartender named Ron Ramon Portas Mingot is said to have invented the piña colada there in 1963. A plaque on the building still commemorates this event.

Whether it was 1954 or 1963 - some people are wondering about Puerto Rico as the place of origin. The recipe with the mixture of rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice probably existed much earlier among seafarers and pirates on the Caribbean Sea.

Caribbean flair or a drink for women?

Rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice are the undisputed basic ingredients. Non-alcoholic versions are available under the names Virgin Colada, Piñata Colada or - on the MSC under Piña Colada Zero, whereby Zero does not stand for zero sugar but for zero alcohol.

The piña colada still stands for a world-famous and popular cocktail, which over time has stood for Caribbean joie de vivre with a lot of advertising. After all, it was declared the national drink of the country by the governor of Puerto Rico, Mr. Rafael Hernandez Colon, in 1978.

Two sides of one coin

This cocktail is not very popular among rum connoisseurs. As with almost all mixed drinks, a low-quality rum is often used here. With the sweet ingredients with pineapple juice and coconut cream, this is hardly noticeable. Low carb is definitely not such a cocktail. It's also logical that the bartender doesn't use his most expensive rum here. At EUR 6.95 in the MSC Club, the cocktail is also in the middle price range.

Fazit

On our cruise, we always enjoyed a piña colada in the club in the evening and associate piña coladas with Havana, the Caribbean, and joie de vivre. The photo for this text was also taken at the same time. In addition, I also like a really good and expensive rum in its pure form. It's definitely delicious!

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