Coquito Cocktail Recipe
Puerto Rico's creamy coconut Christmas drink, spiced with cinnamon and laced with white rum.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 9%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~4 min
Ingredients
- Cream of coconut45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Coconut milk45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Evaporated milk30 ml (1 oz)
- Sweetened condensed milk30 ml (1 oz)
- White Puerto Rican rum45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Vanilla extract1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon1 pinch
How to Make It
- Blend the cream of coconut, coconut milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk until smooth.
- Add the rum, the vanilla and the cinnamon and blend briefly again.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours, ideally overnight.
- Shake or stir before serving, pour into a small chilled glass and dust with cinnamon.
Garnish
A dusting of ground cinnamon and a cinnamon stick.
What it tastes like
The sweetness is pronounced and the texture is creamy.
The technique
Blended. Everything goes into the blender with crushed ice. Cubes strain the motor and leave shards behind; crushed or pellet ice gives a smoother drink. Rule of thumb: about a cup of crushed ice per serving. More ice than that and you are drinking a slush with no flavour left.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Coconut milk
- Canned coconut milk — not to be confused with sweetened coconut cream, which is far sweeter. The can separates, so it is never used unshaken.
- Evaporated milk
- Milk with half its water removed and no sugar added; lighter than cream, fuller than milk. With none, half milk and half cream gives the same body.
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Thickened milk with sugar already in it — it is the sweetener, so no syrup is needed. With none, add about a third of its weight in sugar to evaporated milk.
The Story
A coconut and rum Christmas drink from Puerto Rico, prepared at home and shared with family and neighbours through the holidays. Almost every family keeps its own version of the recipe.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Coquito mixed?
- It is blended and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Coquito?
- Roughly 9% ABV as served — lighter than a beer — a long-conversation drink that takes a second round.
- Can a Coquito be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Coquito hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
The main ingredient here is also a dream symbol: Milk in a dream
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.