Cocktails

Cool off this summer with a piña colada slushie

You know zesty pineapple and creamy coconut taste great in a cocktail. Now turn your piña colada into a refreshing slushie for the ultimate summer cocktail makeover.

Read Time 4 Minutes

By First Choice Liquor Market

Nothing screams summer quite like a piña colada. This hot-hot-hot retro cocktail transports you to the tropics, making it the perfect partner to a balmy evening. While the original version is simply delicious, we’ve thrown caution to the wind and crafted a new twist that’s even more indulgent (and holiday appropriate) by tossing in two types of rum and pine-lime ice cream – umbrella garnish optional. We’re calling it the Splice piña colada slushie, and you need to try it.

How to make a Splice piña colada slushie

Ingredients (Serves 1)

50g chopped pineapple
4 scoops pineapple lime and vanilla ice cream
60mL lime juice
40mL Beenleigh Double Barrel Dark Rum
20mL Malibu Caribbean White Rum
Pineapple wedge and leaves, to garnish

Method

1. Place pineapple in the freezer and freeze for 2 hours or until firm. Transfer to a small blender with 3 scoops of ice cream. Add the lime juice, dark rum and coconut rum. Blend until smooth.

2. Pour into a chilled glass and garnish with pineapple and leaves. Serve immediately with extra ice cream, pineapple and leaves.

Say hola to Puerto Rico’s national drink

Like many favourite tipples, it’s hotly contested exactly where the piña colada was born. But it’s largely agreed that the creamy cocktail was first dreamt up back in the 1950s, where it came to be in the famed Caribe Hilton hotel in San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico. Traditionally, the drink was a combination of rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice – in fact it translates in Spanish to ‘strained pineapple’ – based around two ingredients that grew in ample supply on the island, pineapples and coconuts. Throw in a splash of rum and you have yourself an adults-only milkshake that has become not only beloved in its home nation, but around the globe.

Welcome to the world of rum

Our Splice piña colada slushie is a summer-focused twist on the traditional frozen pina colada, but even if you stick to the classic recipe, you’ll need your bar cart to be topped up with the star of the show – rum. The choice between white or dark rum (or a mingling of the two) is yours. White is generally sweet and light, while dark is rich and complex in flavour.

You could choose to enhance the coconut flavour of the piña colada with a white rum like Malibu Caribbean White Rum. The iconic brand is a merging of the finest Caribbean rums and boasts a distinctly coconut flavour. Or lean towards an Aussie craft dark rum like Beenleigh Double Barrel Dark Rum. This award-winning spirit is aged for five years in small, ex-brandy vats that give it a spicy toffee flavour.