Summer is here. Maybe you can’t afford a tropical vacation in this economy, but you probably have a blender, some ice, and a few bucks to blow on a bottle of piña colada mix. And that’s the next best thing, right? Spring for an inflatable baby pool from Amazon and you’re practically at a five-star resort.
When it doesn’t come straight from a bottle, the non-alcoholic part of a piña colada typically consists of cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and maybe some pineapple chunks and fresh lime juice blended with ice. It’s a pretty simple cocktail to whip up as it is, but many bars rely on a premade mix. That means it’s even easier to make a restaurant-quality piña at home—just add rum (ideally, both light and dark). Fair warning: It’s not a drink for people who are sensitive to sweetness. These mixes are thick, saccharine, and tend to have a little bit of an artificial taste. We were looking for mixes that had a realistic and vibrant essence of pineapple and coconut, but didn’t totally kill the flavor of rum.
We didn’t quite taste these the way god intended, but we did break out a bottle of Bacardi and a little bit of ice to get a feel for which would make the best cocktail. Here’s what we—with a little help from Mythical production assistant Karolyna Garza—decided is worth your summertime spending money.
The following article contains affiliate links that may generate a small commission to us when you make a purchase through the link. Learn more about how we work with affiliates here.
- Daily’s Piña Colada Mix
-
This classic behind-the-bar brand makes a nice, thick piña colada mix with a lot of coconutty flavor. You’d think it would go without saying that these mixes include actual fruit juice given that the two main components of the drink are fruits, but there’s no guarantees in this gloopy genre. Daily’s advertises right there on the label that it has juice in the mix. It also has a little bit of that corn syrupy taste a lot of piña colada mixes are burdened with, but this has a great consistency and would be good on the rocks or blended with ice.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Mr & Mrs T Piña Colada Mix
-
This mix nearly took the top spot, but was edged out by Daily’s by a (coconut) hair. Guest taster KG thought it had a little bit of a hand-soapy vibe, but the rest of the Sporked team liked its extremely thick, luscious consistency. This mix is also cheap as all get out, making it perfect for casual after-work drinks on the back patio.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Zing Zang Piña Colada Mix
-
This mix is a real format buster. It isn’t remotely creamy. It almost looks like a Collins mix. I have a strong hunch this has no business in a blender with a bunch of ice, but if you like a piña colada on the rocks, this is a tasty choice. It has lots of fresh pineapple flavor, and it comes in both a big plastic bottle or single-serving cans if you’re low on space in the fridge door. Zing Zang may be best known for Bloody Mary mix (their zingy, zangy mix was named Best Zesty in our BM mix ranking), but this is a unique option if other mixes are too gloopy for you.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Albertsons
- On the House Piña Colada Cocktail Mix
-
This piña colada mix is thick, super sweet, and would definitely hold up to lots of ice in a blender without getting all watery. When we tasted it over ice with a touch of rum, KG really liked that it effectively covered the flavor of the rum. Of course, if you like the flavor of rum, all you have to do is add more. Yup, this stuff is potent, but your friends won’t mind the extra spike.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Jordan’s Skinny Mixes Piña Colada
-
Diet products are diet products. They’re rarely as good as their full-fat, full-cal counterparts. Somehow, the difference is less pronounced in a piña colada mix since all piña colada mixes have that sort of cloying, artificial seeming sweetness. “This tastes like something you’d drink on the beach,” KG said. It’s refreshing, fruity, and slightly milky but not heavy. All in all a good option if you’re watching what you drink.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Amazon
- Naked Piña Colada Chilled Juice
-
If this were a list of piña colada-flavored juices rather than piña colada mixes, Naked would be number one. This was by far the best tasting thing we sipped during our taste test, but it’s really not technically piña colada mix. It’s thick but not necessarily syrupy enough for a blender and it’s so fresh and healthy tasting I almost can’t imagine mixing it with booze at all. If you want to do a little early a.m. sunbathing, bring a bottle of this to the beach with you for a fruity, tropical treat with big coconut and pineapple flavor.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
Best of the Best
Best Creamy
Best on the Rocks
Best for the Blender
Best Light
Best Virgin
The Rest of What We Tasted: Collins Pina Colada Mix, Master of Mixes Handcrafted Pina Colada Mix, Tropicana Pina Colada Drink, Island Oasis Pina Colada Mix, La Paz Pina Colada & Chi Chi Mix
Film your own taste test at home and share with us using #SporkedTasteTest for a chance to be featured on our social pages!
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!