If You Like Pina Coladas (and Getting Caught in the Rain), Here Are Five to Try

The sun’s shining and daylight saving is about to dramatically alter the mood of our after-work lives. But with reports of Sydney’s spring being one of the wetter ones, we should all be prepped to get caught in the rain. Though, just as Rupert Holmes croons, I think Sydney likes it – almost as much as a good Pina Colada.

“Pina Coladas stand for holidays,” Michael Chiem, of PS40 and Silver’s Motel, tells Broadsheet.

“It’s probably the one cocktail that’s the most evocative of having a good time,” adds Pasan Wijesena of Jacoby’s.

“A Pina Colada is technically one of the simplest drinks – in essence just rum, coconut and pineapple – but it can easily be thrown off balance if done wrong,” Old Love’s Dre Walters says. “I reckon everyone has had a great one and everyone has had a shocking one.”

Skip the shockers with the following five, Sydney. And pack an umbrella.

Jacoby’s, Enmore

“Fun, delicious, iconic.” This is how Wijesena describes the classic, but often overlooked, cocktail. “It seems simple but still needs to be made well to avoid being cloying. You still need balance.”

Jacoby’s – with its inflated puffer fish, bamboo ceiling and oversized tiki heads above the bar – has been Enmore’s tiki go-to since 2017. There are Zombies, yes, but we want the Colada, widely thought of as Sydney’s best.

“We use a blend of Cuban, Jamaican and Venezuelan rums, with sweetened coconut milk and fresh pineapple juice, lemon and lime juice.” It’s served as a slushie now, after bartenders were being flogged blending each to order. “It’s still our number one bestselling drink after eight years – and a staff favourite, so that tells you something.”

It’s $22 usually but every day, for the first two hours after opening, it’s only $12.

Grandfather’s, CBD

At the neon-lit Chinese dining room from the Clam Bar team, temper the Sichuan heat with a Yuzu Colada. The $24 serve arrives in a squat flat-bottomed glass with lime zest on top.

“Most people associate yuzu with Japan,” co-owner Andy Tyson says. “But few know the fruit is native to China and brought to Japan around 1400 years ago.” The team says its recipe is “unconventional” – but the beverage is as ready to support mouth-numbing prawns as it is to sub in for dessert. Or ordered as supper, till 1am. Coconut rum, coconut cream and toasted rice syrup meet pineapple and yuzu juice. Then, mezcal adds a slight smokiness.

PS40, CBD

“Ideally you would be on holiday, sitting in a pool drinking one of these,” Chiem says. “But the best tiki drinks provide this kind of escapism, in case you aren’t.”

The “PS40-ified” $25 serve here is big on detail – and lightly salted. “We’re buying in quality pineapples and letting them ripen a week or two ahead of cold-pressing them. When they’ve got a nice golden colour and you can smell them when you walk past, you know you’re ready.”

There’s more juice than water, plus Planteray rum, Coco Lopez and Murray River salt. It’s all churned in a slushie machine and run through a Thermomix if it gets too icy. “Much like a chef churns an ice-cream, to keep the consistency nice and fluffy,” Chiem explains.

These salty babies are also available online, ready for your blender.

Old Love’s, CBD

Another hot contender for Sydney’s best take on the Pina Colada is this Clarence Street serve. “I’m pretty sure it is scientifically proven that if you have at least 65 per cent of your body submerged in water while drinking a Pina Colada it tastes three times better,” jokes Walters.

The edge here is bespoke coconut rum, made especially for Old Love’s by the folks at Lord Byron Distillery. “First they hand-crack coconut and get the flesh out – they leave it in large pieces and roast it before steeping it in white rum.”

Pineapples are aged on the bar until they’re ripe, then they meet a saline solution, coconut cream and a teeny squeeze of lemon. “The secret is how much ice you put in the blender – the ratio has to be right so it doesn’t get too icy when drinking it and you get that smooth velvet texture. For us it’s 10 of our Hoshizaki ice cubes – no less, no more – and it always turns out perfect.”

The $24 Coladas are blended to order, then served in a coconut (“because we can”) with a banana leaf hat and flower.

Happy Talk, Darlinghurst

Taylor Square has a new bar – and it’s as kitschy as you want it to be. The dairy-free Pina Colada here is a winner, with Appleton Estate rum doubling down with coconut rum, coconut, salted pineapple and lime.

The $20 glass comes with a snack-ready wedge of pineapple too – and it’s $15 during happy hour from 5pm till 7pm.

More around town

With the classic only getting more popular, twisted takes are popping up around town. Hit Redfern’s Island Radio for an all-out, purple-hued ube rendition, or get in on the close cocktail relatives: the two-toned Midori Splice at Silver’s Motel is silky and fun with a cherry on top, and come summer the Miami Vice may return to Alma’s in Surry Hills.