War in Puerto Rico

It’s a raging battle.  A huge dispute.  People aligned on separate sides, violently struggling for the truth.  National bragging rights are at risk. However, the majority seem to favor one of two contenders.

Only in the pursuit of historical truth I, Cutest, have so far sampled three of these controversial concoctions.  Today we walked to the Caribe Hilton, where I was determined to research piña coladas in a city and country (well, commonwealth) famous for them.  This location devotes an entire wall to the drink and its origins.  It  makes a good case that their bartender,  Ramón “Monchito” Marrero, developed the recipe in 1954 as a response to a contest to create a drink for Puerto Rico.  He won, but without the rum, with a creation resembling a milk shake. Savvy bar customers figured out it would be better with rum and voila! a legend was born.

His recipe calls for 2 ounces rum (131 calories), 1 ounce coconut cream (110 calories), 1 ounce heavy cream (100 calories), 6 ounces pineapple juice (100 calories), a cherry and a wedge of pineapple for garnish (who counts calories in garnishes? Consider it celery. Ha.)  It’s creamy, white, and pretty devastating. It’s also very filling, wonder why.

Enough facts now it's back to the war.  The first contender was a pirate in the 1800s who concocted a drink of rum, coconut, and pineapple juice to quell a possible mutiny on one of his ships. Apparently it worked but El Pirata Cofresi died in 1825, taking his recipe with him.

Cuba, specifically Bacardi initially founded there in 1862, also claims ownership of the drink. Their recipe mixes Bacardi, pineapple juice, and sugar; it’s similar to the others but it's missing the coconut, a key ingredient for me. Bacardi left Cuba in the 50s and moved its primary distillery to Puerto Rico, and others to Mexico, and Bermuda. They now produce around 100,000 liters per day in PR, about 85% of their total production. I tried their reinvented version at their distillery and visitors center – they’ve added back in the coconut.

Not part of the battle but as a flanking maneuver, in 1954 University of Puerto Rico Professor Ramon López Irizarry created a new method of coconut cream extraction, Coco López, making the crafting of piña colada’s more straightforward. He patented the process and created a coconut cream alternative, commonly used to make the cocktail drink today.

So where’s the fight you ask?  Well, the upstart (though over 50 years old) San Juan restaurant Barrachina, claims one of their bartenders created  the piña colada in 1963. It is proclaimed in a big sign by their door. Whoever.  Whatever.  The piña colada’s popularity grew, sales skyrocketed it became popular in markets like Hawaii and Miami for obvious reasons.

Middle picture is from Darq Night; other two are from Facebook.

By 1978, sales for the cocktail at the Caribe Hilton reached three million, and Puerto Rico declared it the island’s official drink.

A year later, British-American singer Rupert Holmes debuted the catchy song Escape (The Piña Colada Song), which eventually became the last number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of the entire decade. 

And since governments can do no wrong, I believe the war over the origin of the piña colada was won by the Caribe Hilton. By proclamation the government declared the Hilton's piña colada to be the original drink of Puerto Rico. No matter the victor, this tasty glass is about the enjoyment of summery breezes, ocean waves and the sheer delight of relaxing.

P.S. If you want to sip as you sing and pretend you’re on that beach with us, here’s a low cal recipe.  Not promising it’s as good but it’s not nearly as fattening, since you’re not really on vacation where calories have no meaning.

P.P.S. Speaking of calories, I just have to share a pic of the most decadent dessert I've had in a LONG time: at Musa Restaurant, three churros with too much ice cream, whipped cream, soaking in carmel sauce, AND bacon. True debauchery on a plate.