Bar None: If You Like Piña Coladas…
Welcome to Bar None, where Robb Report Philippines delves into the world of wines, spirits, and everything in between. From vineyards to distilleries, classic cocktails to bold new creations, we uncover the flavors, traditions, and techniques that make every drink unforgettable.
In this episode—and throughout the four-part launch of Bar None—award-winning mixologist Arcadius Rybak reimagines classic cocktails with a Filipino twist, using local ingredients he has come to love. Cheers!
To see all Bar None videos, click here.
The Piña Colada is pure tropical escapism in a glass—sunshine, surf, and soft-focus postcards from the Caribbean. Like all good cocktails, it comes with its own set of origin stories, the most widely accepted version being that it was created by Ramón “Monchito” Marrero, a bartender at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1954. However, another Puerto Rican restaurant, Barrachina, insists it was their own bartender, Don Ramón Portas Mingot, who created it around the same time. In fact, a marble plaque just outside their entrance boldly proclaims it the birthplace of the Piña Colada, for all skeptical tourists to see.
Still, other stories take us back even further: there exists a record that Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí mixed a blend of rum, coconut milk, and pineapple juice as early as the 1800s and gave rounds of it to his crew to keeps spirits up and avoid a mutiny.
Of course, no cultural cocktail moment would be complete without a ’70s soft rock anthem. Who doesn’t remember “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes—the 1979 soft rock anthem that, as Food & Wine put it, “turned a cheesy song about the scandalous exploits of two horrible people in a relationship into a cocktail punchline”? Love it or hate it, the song lodged the drink permanently in pop culture—and in every pool bar in the world.
However, in this iteration, the Piña Colada gets a makeover. Arcadius Rybak, formerly the Director of Bars Asia-Pacific for Rosewood Hotels and instrumental in putting their flagship’s bar, Darkside, on the global map, substitutes guyabano for pineapple. “Guyabano isn’t used much by bartenders in drinks,” says Rybak. “It should be, in a drink like a Piña Colada or a gin fizz.
“I think it should be highlighted more because of its creaminess that balances out its acidity. Compared to the pineapple, it has more refreshing and creamier notes, and still very tropical.”
Whatever version of the drink you subscribe to, this one brings its own island story—Filipino, bold, and refreshingly new.
Recipe:
50ml white rum
150ml guyabano juice
15ml lime juice
20ml coconut cream
Add all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake thoroughly. Pour into a tall glass filled with ice and garnish with a pineapple leaf.
Filmed on location at Makati Shangri-La Manila.
Grooming by Gery Penaso for Estée Lauder.
PRODUCTION TEAM
THIRTYSIX-O MEDIA Video Team
KENNETH DIMAANO Post-Production Director
JOMAR SOLANIA Video Editor and Colorist
RENZO LUMANOG Associate Producer
ANTON MOLINA Producer
KIMBERLY ROCHA-DELGADO Writer
ARCADIUS RYBAK Guest Host
KATRINA MONTINOLA Additional Support
JUAN TICZON Additional Support
ENZO SANTOS Photographer