{"id":1387,"date":"2025-12-21T13:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2025-12-21T13:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T13:04:14","slug":"what-is-coquito-puerto-ricos-holiday-coconut-rum-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/?p=1387","title":{"rendered":"What Is Coquito? Puerto Rico\u2019s Holiday Coconut Rum Drink"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-journey-body=\"standard-article\">\n<ul data-node-id=\"0\" class=\"css-kw9lqy emevuu60\">\n<li data-node-id=\"0.0\">December 21 is National Coquito Day, celebrating Puerto Rico\u2019s signature holiday drink.<\/li>\n<li data-node-id=\"0.1\">Coquito is typically made with coconut milk, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, and rum.<\/li>\n<li data-node-id=\"0.2\">Many Puerto Ricans say if it has egg, it\u2019s not coquito\u2014it\u2019s ponche.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr data-node-id=\"1\" class=\"css-18pb4rg emevuu60\"\/>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"2\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">No shade to eggnog, but there\u2019s only one creamy, boozy cocktail I want during the holiday season. December 21st is National Coquito Day, a day celebrating the signature Christmas drink of Puerto Rico.  <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">For the uninitiated, coquito\u2014translated to \u201clittle coconut\u201d\u2014is typically made with sweetened condensed milk, coconut cream, coconut milk, and rum. It\u2019s rich and creamy, but thanks to the coconut milk, it also has a layer of bright freshness you\u2019d never get from standard eggnog. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"4\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Coquito\u2019s origins are subject to debate, but it is undoubtedly a Puerto Rican invention. Some historians claim that it&#8217;s a derivative of eggnog, brought over by European colonizers. Others credit the indigenous Ta\u00edno community for its invention. But as family recipes have been passed down through the generations, coquito has become a time-honored Puerto Rican tradition and a holiday staple\u2014both on the island and throughout the diaspora. <\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"watch-next\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-15\" data-node-id=\"5\" class=\"embed\"\/>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"6\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">Over time, riffs on the original recipe gained popularity, with added flavors like chocolate, pistachios, and fruit. Similar coconut-based cocktails have also become popular across the Caribbean. But if you ask any Puerto Rican, there are a few nonnegotiables when it comes to coquito. <\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-16\" data-node-id=\"7\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-1fm2v8u e94w1mj9\">\n<h6 class=\"css-18s47pf e94w1mj7\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-before\" class=\"css-0 eagam8p0\"\/><span class=\"css-8lle59 e94w1mj5\">Get The Recipe<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\" data-theme-key=\"title-design-element-after\" class=\"css-0 eagam8p1\"\/><\/h6>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"8\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">For one, you should always opt for Puerto Rican rum. Brands like Don Q and Ron del Barrilito offer both white and aged rums that honor the history and terroir of the cocktail. If you want your coquito even stronger, it\u2019s worth hunting down a bottle of pitorro\u2014a high-proof sugarcane spirit also known as moonshine rum. (The versions sold on shelves in the U.S. don\u2019t capture the same magic, but they\u2019re still a great option.) <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">There\u2019s another point of consensus among coquito experts: If it has egg, it\u2019s not coquito. Sweetened condensed milk and coconut cream do the heavy lifting, giving you the thick, rich texture. Once you add egg, it becomes something else called ponche, which is still delicious, but not the same thing. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"10\" class=\"css-6wxqfj emevuu60\">If you\u2019re ready to retire eggnog from your holiday cocktail rotation (TBH, I don\u2019t blame you), I highly recommend giving coquito a try this Christmas.  <\/p>\n<section data-embed=\"editorial-link\" data-lazy-id=\"P0-17\" data-node-id=\"11\" class=\"embed\">\n<aside class=\"css-fcvumo e94w1mj1\"\/><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 21 is National Coquito Day, celebrating Puerto Rico\u2019s signature holiday drink. Coquito is typically made with coconut milk, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, and rum. Many Puerto Ricans say if it has egg, it\u2019s not coquito\u2014it\u2019s ponche. No shade to eggnog, but there\u2019s only one creamy, boozy cocktail I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cupcake.website\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}