Who doesn’t love piña coladas??? They are so refreshing and they transport you straight to a tropical beach! We are big fans, but the pre-made mixes always let us down. And the classic 3-ingredient piña colada just doesn’t spark joy for us. Here is an upgraded piña colada recipe with dark rum that will be your newest summer happy hour treat!

What’s in a Piña Colada?

A traditional Piña Colada is made with a combo of white rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice. But we had to do this one our way and modify some of these ingredients to truly make this piña colada memorable.

Our Upgraded Piña Colada recipe:

We elevated the classic by adding the following ingredients to the base: fresh pineapple, dark rum, lime juice, Yellow Chartreuse, coconut liqueur, and a pinch of salt. Believe us, the additional ingredients are more than worth it and gives this tropical blended cocktail a huge upgrade!

If you aren’t familiar with Chartreuse, it is a French liqueur that comes in either yellow or green and is somewhat sweet and slightly herbal. Yellow Chartreuse is a bit more mild and sweeter than Green Chartreuse, so we choose to use that in this particular recipe for Piña Coladas.

What equipment do I need to make Piña Coladas?

For this version of the Piña Colada, you will only need a blender. Because we incorporate fresh pineapple, there is not a good on-the-rocks option for this particular drink. But we assume that most people own a blender, so this shouldn’t put you out too much.

If you own a blender, then everything else about this recipe is easy peasy, so no need to worry!

How strong is a piña colada?

Classic piña coladas are not super strong as the only ingredient with alcohol is the white rum. So you are going to get about 1-2 oz of rum in each glass.

But we upgraded the tipsy level for this Piña Colada recipe! Our version has dark rum, chartreuse AND coconut liqueur adding to the overall alcohol level and giving you a bigger bang for your buck! Also, we often finish this off with a rum floater, which is just an additional 1/4 oz (or 1/2 oz on a long weekend) pour of rum right on top of the drink at the end. One cocktail is all you need for a good buzz.

Need to upgrade your bar accessories?

If you are looking to upgrade your bar accessories with some fun items for Summer, check out our selection of favorite Bar Tools in our Amazon store. And find the fun Pineapple Glasses in our photos HERE as well!

Enjoy!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! If you try Upgraded Piña Colada Recipe and love it as much as we do, leave us a comment below or tag us on Instagram @cooking_with_wine!

And check out some of our other popular cocktails below: