Ask for a Chi Chi outside Hawaii and you'll often get a blank look. Ask at a Waikiki pool bar and the blender is already running. The Chi Chi is a piña colada with the rum swapped for vodka — same cream of coconut, same pineapple juice, same frosty texture, but cleaner and lighter on the finish because vodka gets out of the coconut's way. If you've been served a Hawaii "colada" that tasted brighter than you expected, there's a decent chance it was quietly this drink.
Origins are murky. No one has a well-documented claim to inventing it, and we're not going to invent one — Difford's Guide places it loosely in the 1950s or 60s as vodka was rising, and that's about as tight as the timeline gets. Where it lives is easier to pin down: it's a mid-century tiki-era drink tied to Hawaiian resorts, and it stayed on island menus long after most of the mainland forgot it existed. It's also one of the easiest blended drinks to nail at home — three ingredients and ice.
At a glance
2 drinks
5 minutes
None
Easy
Ingredients
For the blend
- 3 oz vodka
- 3 oz cream of coconut (the sweetened kind, well stirred)
- 4 oz pineapple juice
- 2 1/2 cups ice
Optional
- 1/2 ripe banana for extra body
- Splash of half-and-half for a richer, old-school pour
Equipment
- Blender
- 2 tall or hurricane glasses
To serve
- Pineapple wedge on the rim; a cherry if you're committing to the bit
Method
- Blend everything at once. Vodka, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, ice (and banana, if using) into the blender. Start on low to break the ice, then run on high until completely smooth — about 30 seconds.
- Check the texture. You want soft-serve-through-a-straw consistency. Too thin: add a handful of ice and pulse. Too thick to move: splash in more pineapple juice.
- Pour and garnish. Divide between the glasses, notch the pineapple wedge on the rim, and serve immediately with straws.
- Virgin Chi Chi. Drop the vodka and blend the rest as-is. What's left is essentially a coconut-pineapple shake, and it works well for kids at a luau drink station. Add the banana to give it back some body.
Notes from a local cook
Vodka is the point, not a compromise. Rum brings its own molasses personality to a piña colada; vodka steps aside and lets the coconut and pineapple be the whole show. If you think you don't like coladas because they taste "boozy-sweet," the Chi Chi is the version to try.
Cream of coconut, not coconut milk. Same rule as our Lava Flow: the can must say cream of coconut — thick and sweetened. Coconut milk blends thin and flavorless here. Stir the can hard before measuring.
Batch it for a crowd. The ratio scales cleanly: equal parts vodka and cream of coconut, a third more pineapple juice than either. Blend by the pitcher, hold in the freezer up to 30 minutes, and re-pulse once before pouring.
Where to order one
Chi Chis live wherever blenders and swimming pools coexist, but they rarely get top billing on a menu. Instead they hide under house names — order a "vodka colada" or scan the frozen list for one and the bartender will usually nod like you're in the know. A couple of Waikiki bars have the drink on the menu right now under aliases: the Royal Hawaiian's Mai Tai Bar has poured a vodka-based "Royal Pineapple," and Duke's Waikiki put a vodka piña colada called the Hapa-haole on a recent cocktail update. Menus rotate, so treat those as leads, not guarantees. Otherwise, ask at any hotel pool bar or luau drink line — see our guides to Oahu dining, Maui dining, and Hawaiian luaus.
