Which country is the origin of the Piña Colada?

The country of origin of the Piña Colada is Puerto Rico. The tropical cocktail combines rum, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut, and it is generally served blended with ice or shaken over ice.

Its exact inventor is disputed, but the competing origin stories all place the modern drink in Puerto Rico. The Caribe Hilton in San Juan credits bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero with creating it in 1954. Ricardo García, another bartender associated with the hotel, also claimed a role, while the Old San Juan restaurant Barrachina attributes the drink to Ramón Portas Mingot in 1963.

The cocktail’s development was helped by Coco López, the sweetened cream-of-coconut product developed by Puerto Rican professor Ramón López Irizarry. The name piña colada means “strained pineapple” in Spanish, referring to pineapple juice. Puerto Rico officially proclaimed the Piña Colada its national drink in 1978, making the country’s connection to the cocktail especially strong even though the precise inventor remains contested.