Coquito recipe: how to make Puerto Rico’s creamy Christmas coconut drink

Coquito recipe

Prep: 15 minutes · Infuse and cool: about 40 minutes · Chill: 4 hours or overnight · Makes: about 6 cups (12 servings of 4 oz)

Ingredients

• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 can (15 oz) cream of coconut
• 1 can (13.5 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup Puerto Rican white rum, or to taste (leave it out for an alcohol-free batch)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to garnish
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 small pinch salt

Instructions

1. Infuse the milk. Pour the evaporated milk into a small pot with the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Warm it over low heat until it steams and small bubbles appear at the edge, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not let it boil.
2. Cool it down. Take the pot off the heat, cover it and let the spices steep while the milk cools to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Strain out the cinnamon and cloves.
3. Blend. In a blender, combine the spiced milk, cream of coconut (stir the can first, since it separates), coconut milk, condensed milk, vanilla, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Blend for about a minute until smooth.
4. Add the rum. Add the rum a little at a time, tasting as you go, and blend a few seconds more. Start with half a cup if you prefer it mild.
5. Bottle and chill. Funnel the coquito into clean glass bottles or jars, seal them and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, so the flavors settle and it thickens.
6. Serve. Shake each bottle well, pour into small glasses and dust with cinnamon.

Tips for the best coquito

• Cream of coconut is not coconut milk. Cream of coconut is the thick, sweetened kind sold for piña coladas; coconut milk is unsweetened. The recipe uses one can of each, and swapping them changes the sweetness a lot.
• Rum: a Puerto Rican white rum keeps the coconut in front. Aged rum gives a darker, more caramel flavor. Taste as you add it; it is easy to add more and impossible to take it out.
• Sweetness: if you like it less sweet, use only three-quarters of the condensed milk and add a splash of plain milk.
• Texture: coquito thickens in the fridge and separates as it sits. That is normal; shake it before every pour.
• Gifting: small glass bottles with a ribbon are the classic holiday gift. Keep them cold until you hand them over.

Variations

• Alcohol-free: leave out the rum and add 1/2 cup of milk so the texture stays the same.
• Chocolate: melt 3 ounces of dark chocolate into the warm spiced milk at step 2, then continue.
• Guava: blend 4 ounces of guava paste with the spiced milk until smooth before adding the other ingredients.
• Pistachio: blend 1/2 cup of unsalted shelled pistachios with the spiced milk and strain before adding the rest.

Discover Puerto Rico, the island's official destination marketing group, lists chocolate, pistachio and guava among the popular flavored versions; the amounts above are ours.

How long does coquito last?

Keep it in sealed bottles in the refrigerator and plan to drink it within about a week. Discover Puerto Rico suggests anywhere from 4–7 days up to about 10 days depending on the recipe; homemade coquito has no preservatives, so the shorter end is the safer bet. If it smells sour or turns lumpy after shaking, throw it out.

Coquito and the Puerto Rican holidays

Coquito belongs to the Puerto Rican Christmas season, which is famously long. Discover Puerto Rico says the festivities last roughly 45 days, starting the day after Thanksgiving and ending with the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in mid-January. Along the way come parrandas, when friends turn up at someone's door late at night singing aguinaldos and the hosts bring out food and drink (our holiday calendar has the dates). A bottle of coquito in the fridge is how a host is ready.

No one agrees on who first made it, and every family swears by its own version. El Nuevo Día calls it the official drink of the season and notes that it is traditionally made at home, to serve or to give as a present. For the food that goes with it, see the holiday dishes in our guide to Puerto Rican food, including pasteles, pernil and arroz con dulce.

Where to buy coquito and rum in Puerto Rico

Ready-made coquito: bottled coquito is sold in Puerto Rico every holiday season. El Nuevo Día's December 2024 roundup counted four ready-to-drink brands, including Bacardí Coquito. Discover Puerto Rico notes that you can buy coquito all around the island, though most families still prefer homemade. If you buy a homemade bottle, choose a seller who keeps it refrigerated.

Rum for your own batch: these Old San Juan rum shops have cards in our directory. We have not confirmed that any of them sells coquito itself, so ask before you go.

• La Casita de Rones: bars, a restaurant and a shop that calls itself the flagship store for Rums of Puerto Rico.
• Casa Artesano Ballajá: home of Ron Artesano, a handmade Puerto Rican rum.
• Casa Melaza: a rum boutique for local and international rums, back on Calle San Francisco since September 2025.

Across the bay, Casa BACARDÍ in Cataño offers distillery visits and tastings by reservation for guests 18 and older. Browse more in the San Juan shops directory.

Do you make or sell coquito? If your business is listed, you can claim it with a free account and add it to your description; if not, you can add your business.

Puerto Rico's legal drinking age is 18. Please serve the spiked version to adults only; read our drinking age guide for the rules.

Frequently asked questions

Originally published on PuertoRico.com (2026-10-27). Reviewed and updated October 2026: facts were checked against the sources above.