Vegan Coquito

For years I have been making coquito… from of course… a Puerto Rican recipe! This was a “secret” recipe from my friend’s Grama! Grama’s do hold all the secret recipes- don’t they? My friend walked me through it a few times in the beginning and then off I went rolling out Puerto Rican Christmas gifts! I have to say thank you to my friend Monica! This drink can lift spirits from the holidays all the way through the cold winter months. Last year, I made this coquito and didn’t even drink it because it wasn’t vegan. I guess back then before my blog started, I didn’t think to veganize it. Now it’s all about VEGANIZING! This was much more simple than I thought! I know the game here sounds like a lot of milk but the evaporated milk and condensed milk can be easily substituted. Ok let’s do it! 

Step (1) Acquire the necessary products:
Bacardi rum– one liter bottle
Cream de Coco– 2 cans Goya
Organic Creamed Coconut– hard package; you can find this at Whole Foods
Coconut milk– 1 container
Oat milk– 1/2 to 3/4 container
Cinnamon sticks– handful; maybe 6
Cloves– handful; maybe 10
Nutmeg; 1 or 2 nuggets preferably shaved down
Water- 2 cups
Empty liquor bottles

Step (2) Make the secret potion:
Boil down 2 cups of water with the spices. I also used star anise from another friend’s secret recipe. When the decoction cooks down to 1 cup, it’s ready. Strain the spices and let cool.

Step (3) Get mixing. Did you let it cool? Be sure.. as to not ruin the mixture with milk or shall I even say.. alternative milk products. My Montel Health Master broke when I made Bobó de Camarão. This did not leave me with an easy task. I found an old blender and it did the trick. Due to the small blender size, I had to break the ingredients in half or thirds and mix together. I used the rum, then the coconut creams, the milk substitutes and topped it with the spice mix. It was my first time using the creamed coconut in the green package. I may use it again next year but I will try to blend it better so there are no small chunks left. 

Step (4) Taste test! Ok… this is where I got drunk. I use that word loosely as I am no longer a “drinker”. Each year for the last 4 New Years, I made the commitment to not drink alcohol unless it’s December 30th (my official resolution making day) or some other celebratory event… or if I make something from scratch and can semi-justify it’s nutrition. Without trying to defend myself any further lol; I did get tipsy and enjoyed every second of it. 

My vegan coquito was better than my regular one!

Step (5) Bottle it and give to your family and friends. Keep it refrigerated and drink it within 5 days. One of my friends just asked me if it was still good from one month ago… grrr… “I know you wanna savor it but NO! Drink it right away next time and stay warm!”

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