Coquito is a traditional Puerto Rican eggnog commonly associated with the Christmas Holidays. If you want to add a tropical twist to your egg nog, then give this classic coquito recipe a try. Feliz Navidad!
Ingredients
Makes about 80 oz (or 10 x 8 oz mason jars full)
1⅔ cups filtered water
▢2 cinnamon sticks, (broken in half)
▢Pinch freshly grated nutmeg (or a quarter a grated nutmeg and put the rest in the water)
▢1 teaspoon whole cloves
▢Pinch kosher salt
▢1 (13.5-ounce) can light or full-fat coconut milk, (I prefer light coconut milk)
▢1 (15-ounce) can Coco Lopez cream of coconut
▢1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
▢1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
▢2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of almond extract
▢350 ml good-quality white rum, (1.5 cup)
Instructions
In a saucepan, set over medium heat, add the water, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Bring to a rapid simmer. And then immediately turn off the heat and cover the pan. Let it steep for 10 minutes. During this time, the water will become a delicious cinnamon and nutmeg flavored water. When it's done steeping, remove the cinnamon stick and discard and strain the water and pour strained water into large blender
Note: If your blender isn't big enough, you may need to do this in batches.
Pour the cinnamon/flavored water into a blender, along with the coconut milk, cream of coconut, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and rum. Blend it up until very smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Give the coquito a taste and adjust the rum to taste.
To Chill the Coquito:
Pour the coquito into pitchers and transfer to the fridge to chill, at least 2 hours. Ideally overnight. I like mine super cold.
To Serve the Coquito:
You can serve it neat (zero ice) or over ice. It's definitely your call. I personally like it over ice. Add a grating of nutmeg for a garnish or you could serve it with a cinnamon stick or both.
Recipe by A Day in the Bite at https://www.adayinthebite.com/coquito/