2022 Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 16 – Coquito. Instead of eggnog, I’m serving up a classic Puerto Rican treat made with coconut cream, condensed milk, and baking spices. I’ve swapped the recipe’s usual base spirit of rum for tequila. This cocktail is rich and creamy – tastes like a cinnamon bun.
Coquito means “little coconut” in Spanish and is sometimes considered to be the Puerto Rican eggnog. There are countless variations of coquito as the recipe differs from region to region and family to family. The most consistent element across the myriad versions is Puerto Rican rum. So, naturally, that was the one ingredient I changed.
To be fair, some styles include Spanish Licor 43 or Pitorro rum which is an overproof rum bottled at 80 to 100 proof. When coquito is prepared with Pitorro it’s served in shot glasses sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg.
I love learning about the fascinating histories and traditions behind cocktails. Understanding where recipes and spirits originate, enriches the experience and enjoyment.
To that end, I always recommend trying a recipe as it was designed first and then putting your imagination to work to figure out how you might want to modify it to make it your own. I found the original spec with rum to be a bit sweet for my taste and thought the grassy, floral notes of tequila would make a great substitution to this coconut-based cocktail.
Coconut and eggnog lovers are almost certain to love this creamy cocktail and I hope you’ll join me on Instagram Stories tonight at 5 p.m. Eastern as I stir up a batch of coquito!
Coquito
Instead of eggnog, I’m serving up a classic Puerto Rican treat made with coconut cream, condensed milk, and baking spices. I’ve swapped the recipe’s usual base spirit of rum for tequila. This cocktail is rich and creamy – tastes like a cinnamon bun.
- 10 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 8 oz evaporated milk
- 4 oz cream of coconut such as Coco Lopez
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 5 oz reposado tequila
- Garnish: cinnamon stick
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Add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream of coconut, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool.
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Stir in tequila. Transfer to a sealable bottle and add one cinnamon stick to the bottle. Seal and store in the fridge.
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Once chilled, pour into ice-filled rocks glasses.
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Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
