Imagine as if you were holding a Pina Colada right now. It’s cold, has a tall straw and colourful garnish. As you go to take a sip, it’s sweet, creamy and a bit strong. It’s perfect, just a like you’ve transported yourself onto the sandy white shores of a tropical island. 

For some reason, tropical drinks are in season all year long. Whether it’s a birthday, a wedding, or a warm summer day at the beach, the drinks and flavours of summer are the perfect way to switch up an evening.

The Piña Coladas is highly popular and for a reason, and you can also make them at home too, you just need to have some good rum on your side.

So, what is the best rum for making a piña colada? While this may seem like an easy question to answer, it it actually comes with a lot of debate. There are plenty of factors to consider in Addition to taste: quality, where and how it is made, price, flavour, etc. So don’t think you’re going to get a quick answer to this question — you have to consider everything that goes into the drink!

That’s why we asked some cocktail experts for their recommendations on the best rums for making your own homemade Piña Colada at home. Here are our experts’ picks for the best bottles of rum to make a pitch-perfect Piña Colada with.

Zaya 16 Year Old Grand Reserva

With an exceptional 16 years ageing period, the Zaya Gran Reserva is a stunning rum with a great character and colour. Its drinkability is equal to its quality, so this one is perfect for cocktails. Zaya shows more Caribbean character than its other rums, with some nice baking spice notes and coconut flavours. 

The nose opens with a rush of fresh-baked banana bread and exotic spices while the palate sips smoothly, revealing flavours of fresh-baked banana bread, creamy coconut and toasted nuts laced with cinnamon. Zaya Gran Reserva is the ultimate rum experience. Add a splash of tropical juice and you have the perfect cocktail. Enjoy alone or in your favourite Piña Colada recipe.

Plantation 3 Stars

The three stars in the Plantation 3 Stars rum represent its Caribbean origins: Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica. All of which offer distinct flavours that come together to create a wonderfully balanced rum. It can deliver the unique sweetness of Barbados rums with the freshness of Trinidadian rum, complemented by the well-rounded complexity of Jamaican rum. The best of each island’s distillate is melded into this rum, making it ideal for crafting classic cocktails like the pina colada, daiquiri, and mojito, or making your original creations. Each bottle celebrates the uniqueness of the components that go into it with a wrap-around label that features woodblock prints from each island.

Malibu Coconut Caribbean Rum

For generations, people have made Malibu their top choice for tropical cocktails from daiquiris to piña coladas. Combining the tropical flavours of coconut and pineapple, the Malibu Original Caribbean Coconut Rum offers a Caribbean experience in every sip. This rum has been infused with coconut liqueur to create an island-inspired spirit that is smooth, warm, and refreshing. With its rich flavour and distinctive taste, it will make all of your tropical drink-inspired adventures even more captivating.

Bacardi Superior 

Hit your next piña colada recipe out of the park with Bacardí Superior Light rum. This smooth, drinkable rum is 100% natural and made without any added sugar or color. Use straight up for an easy sipping pleasure, or in cocktails like a mojito, Matador, vodka tonic, Cuba Libre or Cuba Libre Americano. Bacardi Superior is proof that you don’t need to spend a fortune to enjoy a truly superior light rum. Its smooth taste adds just the right amount of sweetness and alcohol to create classic summer cocktails that are an absolute kick.

Bacardi Gold Rum 

BACARDÍ Gold Rum is a smooth, refreshing take on rum. The flavour profile is complex, yet everything pairs so well with the tropical sweetness of a pina colada. It's made from the rawest form of sugar cane juice and infused with refined cane spirits. Bacardi Gold Rum can be sipped slowly, or mixed into cocktail creations to unlock a world of flavour.

This is the perfect rum for an authentic pina colada since you get a warm, smooth flavour on the front of your palate that is totally delicious. It's followed by the zesty orange peel and a wonderful oak finish. Bacardi Gold Rum is a great stand-alone rum, but it makes an extremely refreshing pina colada.

Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum

Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum is blended with Captain Morgan's legendary rum, aged in oak casks, and flavoured with natural fruit, spice, and vanilla. A unique rum with a character as memorable as the man himself. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum is wonderfully smooth, easy to drink and delightfully versatile to mix in almost any cocktail. While you can add nearly any rum to your Pina Colada, spiced rum can accentuate the cocktail’s flavour without overpowering it, whereas white rums might have a sharpness to them. Think about it: the better the ingredients, the better the drink! Try it out yourself.

Cocktail Recipe for an Island Getaway in Your Glass: Pina Colada

This drink's allure is partly due to the simplicity of preparation. It’s got simple ingredients that result in a drink so delicious and so refreshing that it transports you away to a quick vacation.

About the ingredients:

• RUM: The base alcohol is rum. Go with a light-flavoured white rum for this cocktail rather than an aged or dark one. 
• COCONUT: For the coconut flavour, use cream of coconut. Note that cream of coconut is a different product than coconut milk or cream. If you're shopping for booze, chances are you'll find it near the mixers.
• PINEAPPLE: The pineapple flavour comes from pineapple juice and chunks. If you're using a blender, you can add pineapple chunks to the drink to make it thicker and frothier.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces light rum
• 2 ounces pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 ounces​ cream of coconut
• 1 lime wedge, optional
• Pineapple wedge, for garnish
• Maraschino cherry, for garnish

Steps:

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Chill your cocktail glass in the freezer.
3. When you're ready to mix your drink, put the ice-filled glass of rum, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut into a shaker. If you want to cut back on the sweetness, you can add some lime juice into the shaker.
4. Shake for at least 30 seconds to make sure everything is blended well.
5. After thoroughly shaking, check that the drink has that creamy foam from the pineapple juice.
6. Strain into a chilled glass (preferably a collins glass).
7. For garnish, pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry are perfect finishing touches. You can add it directly on top of the drink or place it on a skewer.