Coquito Recipe

Evaporated milk, cream of coconut, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, cloves, and Puerto Rican white rum come together in the Coquito, a deeply traditional holiday drink rooted in Puerto Rico’s history and festive culture. 

The Coquito, Spanish for “little coconut,” is at the center of the island’s year-end celebrations. It’s essentially a coconut-rich riff on eggnog shaped by centuries of colonial influence and Caribbean adaptation. Spanish settlers introduced fortified milk punches to the region, but Puerto Rican cooks transformed the template by using locally available coconut.

Today, the Coquito is both a festive beverage and a cultural heirloom, passed down through family recipes from the Caribbean to all over the world. Its richness, warmth, and rum backbone make it as celebratory as the gatherings it’s poured for. This large-format version inspired by bartender Giuseppe Gonzalez honors that lineage while delivering enough for a full holiday crowd.

Why the Coquito works

The Coquito is often referred to as Puerto Rican eggnog. Both drinks share a creamy texture and warm spices, but as the drink’s name implies, coconut is the defining flavor of the Coquito. The fatty, full-bodied cream of coconut and evaporated milk create a lush base, while cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and clove cut through the richness with warm, cozy aromas. Vanilla underscores the coconut’s sweetness without tipping the drink too far into dessert territory. 

The addition of rum, particularly a crisp Puerto Rican white rum, provides both structure and brightness, keeping the finish lively rather than cloying. In a large-batch preparation like this one, blending ensures an exceptionally smooth texture and even spice distribution, resulting in a fully emulsified holiday punch.