There are several accounts of the origin of this cocktail. The oldest known version traces its origin to a 19th century pirate, the Puerto Rican Roberto Cofresí, who distributed a curious concoction containing coconut, pineapple and white rum among the crew of his ship.

From this mixture came the recipe for what would later become the famous Piña Colada. After his death by execution in 1825, the recipe was lost.

However, there are critics who see this account more as myth than fact; Puerto Rican historian H. Reichard states that this “can not be proven. Many things are said about Cofresí”.