Ramón Marrero, created the Pina Colada using Don Q rum. After spending months perfecting the recipe, Mr. Marrero created and sold the first piña colada on August 15, 1954, while working as the head bartender at the Caribe Hilton International Hotel, the most popular hotel in Puerto Rico among the 1950s. Mr. Marrero subsequently received numerous awards and recognition for his creation. The earliest known reference to a drink specifically called a piña colada is from TRAVEL magazine, December 1922: “But best of all is a piña colada, the juice of a perfectly ripe pineapple—a delicious drink in itself—rapidly shaken up with ice, sugar, lime and Bacardi rum in delicate proportions. What could be more luscious, more mellow and more fragrant?” This quote describes a drink without coconut, as the piña colada was originally just the juice of a fresh pineapple served either strained (colada) or unstrained (sin colar). This evolved into a rum drink, and finally it changed into the drink we know today.