Espi’s Coquito

Coquito is a delicious Puerto Rican style coconut eggnog.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

For the tea: Add cloves, star anise, cinnamon sticks and ginger into 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20/25 minutes uncovered till it reduces by half. Strain into a cup and let it cool to room temp or put in fridge to speed up cooling process. It doesn’t have to be that cold though. Makes about 1 cup.

Step 2

Place evaporated milk and coconut milk in saucepan at medium heat, whisk in egg yolks. Heat up and stirring constantly for abut three to five minutes. Set aside and let cool. This is to kill off any Salmonella if present. I also use pasteurized eggs.

Step 3

While tea and evaporated milk cool, place the can of cream of coconut in a container and add very hot tap water filling almost to the top. This helps loosen the cream of coconut and make it easier to work with.

Step 4

In a blender combine 1/4 cup of the tea, evaporated milk, cream of coconut, condensed milk, vanilla extract and 1 tsp of grated nutmeg and blend at medium speed for about five minutes until smooth.

Step 5

If the blender is big enough, then add all your rums. If the blender isn’t big enough like mine, I transfer all contents in a large bowl and use a hand blender to blend everything together.

Step 6

Once complete, taste for alcohol and add more if you so desire. But be careful because this one is pretty strong!

Step 7

Prepare empty bottles with two sticks of cinnamon in each and pour coquito into bottles leaving about an inch from the top. I usually use leftover 750ml bottles of liquor. Makes about two of these bottles!

Step 8

Place in fridge for at least four hours or overnight. Before serving, shake well. Pour in a glass and sprinkle a bit of ground cinnamon on top for garnish. Enjoy!!