It’s National Rum Day, and at Caña Rum bar, blended drinks are back

Happy National Rum Day, and well, hello, frapéed piña colada.

Any lover of craft cocktails who also harbored a penchant for more froth than even a Japanese hard shake could muster might have been down on her luck until fairly recently. A cloying blended daiquiri or margarita was anathema to a cocktail renaissance that honored proper pre-Prohibition cocktails.

And blenders -- either because they were associated with all those sweet, sticky, slushy drinks or because they just made too much noise (anyone who’s ever entered Barragans during happy hour knows what I’m talking about) -- went the way of the dodo.

But there’s no reason why a blended drink can’t also be a balanced cocktail. Made with fresh juice and crushed ice and not too much sugar, they’re spumescently delicious.

So when it comes to emulsification and aeration, what beats the good ol’ blender? And what better a blender drink than the piña colada?

Danielle Crouch of Caña Rum Bar is making fantastic piña coladas by the pitcher, with a blend of Papa’s Pilar dark and blonde rums, fresh pineapple juice and house-made cream of coconut. It’s not too sweet but goes down easy, cold and nicely foamy.

The Papa Doblé also is blended and served in a pitcher, made with Papa’s Pilar blonde rum, fresh lime and grapefruit juice, grapefruit syrup and Maraschino liqueur. Both the Cana Colada and Papa Doble cost $50 and serve five people.

And in observance of National Rum Day, customers can get a lifetime membership (normally $20 a year) by saying, “I love rum!”

714 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, (213) 745-7090, www.213nightlife.com/canarumbar.