Average
Tropical, Creamy & Sweet
4 minutes
Highball Glass
Ingredients
Made with just three ingredients and a blender, the Chi Chi is one of the simplest tropical cocktails you can make at home. The vodka keeps it clean, the cream of coconut adds both decadence and sweetness and the pineapple juice brings the tropical character that makes this drink what it is.
Serve it in a hurricane glass with a pineapple leaf and it’s ready. Simple as that.
How to Make a Chi chi
Bar tools you’ll need
Jigger
Boston Shaker
Blender
Knife
Hawthorne Strainer
How to Mix
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Prepare your pineapple juice, by slicing off the top and bottom of a pineapple, removing the skin and core, and chopping the flesh into chunks. Save a pineapple leaf for garnishing.
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Use a juicer or blender to make your pineapple juice.
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Use a jigger (or measuring instrument) to measure and pour pineapple juice into a cocktail shaker.
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Use the jigger to measure and add cream of coconut, followed by Absoliut Vodka.
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Add ice cubes to the shaker, seal the shaker and shake vigorously until ice-cold.
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Add ice cubes to a highball glass.
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Open the shaker, place a Hawthorne strainer over the shaker and then pour the cocktail into a rocks.
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Garnish with a single pineapple leaf, placed directly into the glass.
All about the Chi Chi
The Chi Chi cocktail is a tiki-style drink and a variation of a Piña Colada cocktail.
When you think of tropical cocktails, it’s almost a certainty that you think of pineapple and coconut. Just like Piña Colada, the Chi Chi delivers on both fronts.
However, where the Piña Colada and almost every other tiki drink uses rum (and often several different types in the same drink!) as the base spirit, a Chi Chi uses vodka.
Shaken together with cream of coconut and fresh pineapple juice, the Chi Chi is served in a tall glass (e.g. hurricane glass or highball glass) filled with ice cubes and garnished with a pineapple leaf or pineapple wedge.
A tropical paradise. Sweet, creamy and decadent coconut meets tangy-but-sweet pineapple juice. Absolut Vodka elevates both flavors, creating one of the best tiki-style drinks around.
The exact date of the Chi Chi cocktail’s creation isn’t documented, but it’s believed to have originated at one of the bars owned by the “Grandfather of Tiki” in the 1960s or 1970s, either in Hawaii or California.
The Chi Chi is a vodka-based tropical twist on the Piña Colada, also created by the same influential tiki pioneer. Initially known as the “Macadamia Nut Chi Chi,” it was made with vodka, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and macadamia nut liqueur. It later evolved into a three-ingredient drink with a straightforward mix of vodka, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, becoming a popular tiki cocktail throughout the 1970s and 80s.
- Fresh pineapple juice
You know that moment when you sip a cocktail at a bar and can’t help but marvel at how they achieve such incredible flavors? The secret lies in fresh ingredients.If you want your Chi Chi cocktail to taste as good as the one you’ve been dreaming about, you’ve got to leave behind the bottled stuff and make your own pineapple juice. Here’s how to do it:
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Pick a pineapple that’s nice and ripe. It should be golden-yellow at the base and has a sweet aroma.
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Slice off the top and bottom, stand it up, and cut away the skin, making sure to get rid of any brown spots.
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Cut it into quarters and slice out the tough core, then chop the pineapple into smaller chunks.
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With a juicer, just pop the chunks in and let the juicer do its thing. With a blender, you’ll need add a splash of water, blend until smooth, and strain through a mesh strainer or sieve to get the juice.
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Stick the juice in the fridge until it’s nice and cold.
- Cream of coconut…not coconut cream
it’s an easy mistake to make but make sure you buy cream of coconut, not coconut cream. What’s the difference? See the FAQ section.However, if you can’t find cream of coconut, coconut cream together with simple syrup works very well as an alternative.
- Macadamia Nut Chi Chi
It’s said that the Chi Chi cocktail was originally named Macadamia Nut Chi Chi because it included a fourth ingredient – macadamia nut liqueur. This was eventually left out due to the scarcity of the product.If you manage to get your hands on a bottle, add approximately 7.5 ml of macadamia nut liqueur to the Chi Chi recipe you see on this page and you’re be sipping how it was originally made. - Add lime juice
To balance out the creamy sweetness of your drink, add 7-10 ml of fresh squeezed lime juice, which will add a zesty, acidic edge. - Add a rum float
To accentuate the drink’s already strong tiki vibes, add a rum float to your Chi Chi. Use a bar spoon to gently pour about 5 ml of dark or spiced rum on top for an added layer of depth and flavor. - Frozen Chi Chi
Follow the drink recipe on this page, but add about a cup of ice to a blender along with all the ingredients. Blend until you reach a smoothie-like consistency. Summer is calling!
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We recommend serving a Chi Chi cocktail in a tall glass, like a highball glass, filled with ice cubes. A hurricane glass, typically used for Piña Coladas, works great too.
The truth is, the Chi Chi can be served however you prefer. In the video, you’ll notice a cocktail glass is used. But since it’s a tiki-style drink, feel free to use a tiki mug as well.
- You may also want to swap your ice cubes for crushed ice. Crushed ice will chills your drinks faster and dilutes quicker, while ice cubes will keep your drink colder longer without quick dilution. It’s your drink, you decide!
- In our Chi Chi drink recipe, we garnish our drink with a single pineapple leaf. Another popular option is a pineapple wedge either perched on the side of your glass or placed directly in the glass.
- Add a single maraschino cherry together with a pineapple wedge and a pineapple leaf for the tiki trifecta!
Chi Chi FAQ
The only difference is that a Chi Chi is made with vodka, while a Piña Colada is made with rum. Everything else – the cream of coconut and pineapple – remains the same.
A Chi Chi is made with vodka, cream of coconut and pineapple juice.
Vodka is the spirit used in a Chi Chi cocktail.
No. Cream of coconut and coconut cream are very differently.
Cream of coconut is a highly sweetened, syrupy mixture of coconut cream and sugar, perfect for cocktails like the Piña Colada and Chi Chi, whereas coconut cream is thick, unsweetened, and suited for cooking and desserts.
If you can’t find cream of coconut, you can use coconut cream together with simple syrup so that you can achieve the sweetness that’s needed.
