I made my mom's boozy coquito recipe for the first time and it's 10 times better than eggnog

Maria NoyenDec 14, 2021, 00:23 IST

Coquito is the ultimate holiday drink.Maria Noyen/Insider, iStock / Getty Images Plus

My mom has been making coquito — without alcohol — for my sisters and I since we were babies.
Coquito is a Puerto Rican holiday drink that shares some similarities to eggnog, but it's way better.

Coquito is a staple beverage to have at any Puerto Rican Christmas and looks a bit like eggnog.

Coquito is 10 times better than eggnog, in my humble opinion.Glasshouse Images/Getty Images, Mikeh57/Getty Images

My mom has been making my sisters and I batches of non-spiked coquito since before I can remember, but this year I wanted to give it a go for myself and add in rum.

My family always celebrate Christmas in Puerto Rico.Maria Noyen/Insider

My mom's recipe isn't the most detailed, and there are plenty of others online, but here are the basic ingredients you'll need to make enough coquito to fit inside two wine bottles.

Ingredients for coquito, minus the coconut milk and cinnamon sticks (not pictured).Maria Noyen/Insider

My mom's recipe isn't the most detailed, and there are plenty of others online, but here are the basic ingredients you'll need to make enough coquito to fit inside two wine bottles.

I started by cracking and separating the eggs, discarding the whites and popping the yolks into a large bowl.

You can see from the look on my face that I didn't love this step of the process.Maria Noyen/Insider

Next, I added the sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. I opted to go with soft, light-brown sugar.

Eggnog also gets its sweetness from sugar, but for coquito it's more of a minor part.Maria Noyen/Insider

The following steps were my favorite: Pour in whole cans of evaporated, condensed, and coconut milk.

The recipe calls for whole cans of coconut, condensed and evaporated milk.Maria Noyen/Insider

Condensed milk is essentially the nectar of the gods so don't fight the urge to scoop out the leftover bits from the can.

Condensed milk tastes like my childhood.Maria Noyen/Insider

I then spiked the mixture with a cup of white rum. My mom was vague when it came to this part of the recipe: "One cup, two cups, it's how boozy you want to make it."

I prefer the alcohol flavor not be too overpowering so I opted for one cup of rum.Maria Noyen/Insider

I set the bowl aside to focus on the cinnamon sticks and cloves. My mom's recipe says to boil both with a cup of water.

This step really adds the Christmassy flavors to the drink.Maria Noyen/Insider

You can really smell Christmas once the cloves and cinnamon have boiled. I picked out the sticks and cloves and poured the contents through a sieve. Then, I let it cool to room temperature.

As an extra measure, pour the water through a sieve to get out any unwanted bits of clove and cinnamon.Maria Noyen/Insider

You can really smell Christmas once the cloves and cinnamon have boiled. I picked out the sticks and cloves and poured the contents through a sieve. Then, I let it cool to room temperature.

When the water is cool enough, pour it in with the eggy, milky, rummy mixture and top it off with some ground cinnamon. Then, put the mix through a blender.

I have a small blender so it took a few rounds to blend the whole mix.Maria Noyen/Insider

And there you have it: coquito! Find yourself a container – following my mom's footsteps, I opted to wash out an old wine bottle.

I kept some of the mixture in an old wine bottle and the rest in a plastic container.Maria Noyen/Insider

On Saturday, I brought my coquito to a friend's pre-Christmas dinner party and it's safe to say it was a hit.

The whole bottle was gone by the end of the night.Maria Noyen/Insider

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I made my mom's boozy coquito recipe for the first time and it's 10 times better than eggnog

Coquito is a staple beverage to have at any Puerto Rican Christmas and looks a bit like eggnog.

My mom has been making my sisters and I batches of non-spiked coquito since before I can remember, but this year I wanted to give it a go for myself and add in rum.

My mom's recipe isn't the most detailed, and there are plenty of others online, but here are the basic ingredients you'll need to make enough coquito to fit inside two wine bottles.

I started by cracking and separating the eggs, discarding the whites and popping the yolks into a large bowl.

Next, I added the sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. I opted to go with soft, light-brown sugar.

The following steps were my favorite: Pour in whole cans of evaporated, condensed, and coconut milk.

Condensed milk is essentially the nectar of the gods so don't fight the urge to scoop out the leftover bits from the can.

I then spiked the mixture with a cup of white rum. My mom was vague when it came to this part of the recipe: "One cup, two cups, it's how boozy you want to make it."

I set the bowl aside to focus on the cinnamon sticks and cloves. My mom's recipe says to boil both with a cup of water.

You can really smell Christmas once the cloves and cinnamon have boiled. I picked out the sticks and cloves and poured the contents through a sieve. Then, I let it cool to room temperature.

When the water is cool enough, pour it in with the eggy, milky, rummy mixture and top it off with some ground cinnamon. Then, put the mix through a blender.

And there you have it: coquito! Find yourself a container – following my mom's footsteps, I opted to wash out an old wine bottle.

On Saturday, I brought my coquito to a friend's pre-Christmas dinner party and it's safe to say it was a hit.