Traditional Coquito Recipe (2024)

Traditional Puerto Rican coquito has become a holiday staple in Miami, FL over the last few years. It’s even developed a bit of a seasonal business boom with several people selling their homemade versions during the holidays.

Recently, I was getting that itch for some coquito and I started asking around what the price for a 750ml bottle of it cost. The going price ranged from $20-$35. I thought about it and I figured it’s probably cheaper to make and it would make for a good Christmas present for friends.

I researched dozens of recipes, tested a few and this is what I came up with.

How much coquito does this recipe make?

It’s a big batch recipe that makes about a gallon of coquito. You’ll have enough to share with friends or to hoard all for yourself. This is the recipe I use every year to gift friends and family,

Ingredients needed

• Full-fat coconut milk
• Coco Lopez cream of coconut
• Evaporated milk
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Ground cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Puerto Rican rum
• Cinnamon sugar and cinnamon sticks for garnish

Directions

• In a very large stockpot, combine all of the canned milks. Whisk well after each can and add the ground cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and vanilla extract. Taste and adjust to your liking.
• Lastly, add your bottle of rum. Once you’ve added everything and whisked well.
• Strain the liquid using a large mesh strainer to get out any clumps of cinnamon or nutmeg that didn’t break down.
• Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. If you can refrigerate overnight, it’ll taste even better.
• Once ready to serve, garnish your glass with a cinnamon sugar rim and a cinnamon stick.
• If you're pouring this into bottles to give to friends as a holiday present, add one cinnamon stick to the bottle.

Substitutions

For my vegan and dairy free friends, feel free to swap out the regular evaporated and condensed milks for coconut evaporated milk and coconut sweetened condensed milk. These simple swaps will make this a vegan coquito as well as a dairy free coquito.

Is coquito the same as eggnog?

NO. Coquito is spanish for small coconut. This big batch coquito recipe has cream of coconut and full fat coconut milk, making it a creamy, boozy and coconutty drink. It has nothing to do with eggnog.

It's closer to a piña colada than eggnog.

Does this coquito have eggs in it?

This traditional coquito recipe has no eggs in it.

Storage for this traditional coquito recipe

This eggless coquito recipe will keep in an airtight container for upto 3-4 months in the refrigerator. Be sure to give the bottle a good shake before serving. Shaking the bottle helps with the spices that settled at the bottom of the bottle as well as with any cream of coconut that may have solidified in the refrigerator.

See Also

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