Coconut Kiss Recipe: Creamy Alcohol-Free Classic

Ingredients

1 oz cream of coconut sweetened, such as for Piña Coladas
¾ oz cream
2 oz pineapple juice
1¼ oz orange juice
1¼ oz cherry juice or cherry nectar

Garnish: Pineapple wedge and cherry · Ice: Ice cubes

Method

Add cream of coconut, cream, pineapple juice, orange juice and cherry juice to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake very hard for 12 to 15 seconds to emulsify the cream.
Strain into a hurricane or highball glass filled with ice cubes.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a cherry.

Watch it made

Coconut Kiss

Taste

Creamy, sweet and tropical: coconut and cream first, then pineapple and a gentle cherry tartness. Rich but still refreshing.

History and origin

The Coconut Kiss is one of the alcohol-free classics of German cocktail bars and appears on countless menus next to the San Francisco and the Florida. It clearly borrows from the Piña Colada, the Puerto Rican combination of rum, coconut and pineapple, but it leaves out the rum and adds cherry juice for colour and a gentle tartness.

No creator or exact date is documented. The drink belongs to the creamy tropical drinks built on cream of coconut that became popular in German bars in the wake of the Piña Colada. Recipes differ in the details, with some using grenadine instead of cherry juice, but coconut, cream and pineapple are always there.

Bartender tips

Use cream of coconut, the thick, sweetened kind, not coconut milk; otherwise the drink tastes flat.
Shake longer than usual so the cream and coconut bind with the juices.
Cherry juice gives a more natural tartness than grenadine; if you use grenadine, 10 ml is enough.

Variations

Coconut Kiss with grenadine: Replace the cherry juice with 10 ml grenadine and 30 ml more pineapple juice.
Virgin Colada: Leave out the orange and cherry juice for a straightforward alcohol-free Piña Colada.