ETHANOL

PIÑA COLADA

Caribe Hilton, San Juan, 1954.

HIGHBALL
ETHANOL 19 G131 KCAL FROM ETHANOL8.1 OZ SERVED

SPEC

2 oz · 60 mlWHITE RUM40 %
1 oz · 30 mlCOCONUT CREAM
3 oz · 90 mlPINEAPPLE JUICE

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

METHOD

  1. 01BLEND ALL WITH CRUSHED ICE
  2. 02POUR INTO HIGHBALL OR HURRICANE
  3. 03GARNISH WITH PINEAPPLE WEDGE + CHERRY

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

STRENGTH // WORKED

Pre-batch6 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol
MeltBlended: +35 % of the pre-batch, +2.1 oz of water
Served6 + 2.1 = 8.1 oz in the glass
Strength0.8 ÷ 8.1 = 9.9 % ABV as served
Ethanol0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone

IN THE GLASS

DIACETYL

FROM WHITE RUM CANE · the butter note

Formula
C₄H₆O₂
Mass
86.09 g/mol
IUPAC
butane-2,3-dione

The butter note. Wanted in oak-aged Chardonnay and certain ales (English bitter, Czech pilsner) where a controlled amount adds body; unwanted at high concentrations, where it slides into movie-theater-popcorn territory. Yeast produces it as an intermediate during fermentation and reabsorbs it during conditioning. A rushed beer that skipped its conditioning rest often carries diacetyl as an off-flavor the brewer didn't intend.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Daiquiri · Hemingway Daiquiri · Caipirinha · Mary Pickford · El Presidente · Beachcomber · Cuba Libre · Frozen Daiquiri

D-LIMONENE

FROM PINEAPPLE · citrus peel oil

Formula
C₁₀H₁₆
Mass
136.24 g/mol
IUPAC
(4R)-1-methyl-4-prop-1-en-2-ylcyclohexene

An orange rind, squeezed, throws a spray that catches the light. That's d-limonene boiling off. It's roughly 95% of orange peel oil by mass, and the molecule that puts the "orange" in orange anything. Used industrially as a green solvent because the chemistry that dissolves citrus oils also dissolves greasy machinery. The expressed-peel garnish on a cocktail is delivering vaporized limonene to the rim of the glass.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Martini · Margarita · Gin & Tonic · Cosmopolitan · Mai Tai · Hemingway Daiquiri · Americano

CHEMISTRY

White rum, coconut cream and pineapple. Coconut fat and sugar mask the ethanol's burn, which makes the drink deceptively easy to drink. Ethyl hexanoate from the pineapple provides the tropical top note, and delta-octalactone carries the coconut.

PROVENANCE

Ramón 'Monchito' Marrero spent three months developing the recipe at the Caribe Hilton's Beachcomber Bar. Competing claims include the pirate Roberto Cofresí (early 1800s) and the Barrachina restaurant in Old San Juan (1963). Puerto Rico declared the piña colada its official drink in 1978.

RUM // NEARBY

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