Vegan Coquito

Hiii! Being a Puerto Rican living in the diaspora it can feel very isolating during the holidays. The years I haven’t been able to afford to go back to PR for Christmas have been some of the most brutal. Christmas time in the states just doesn’t have the warmth (literally and figuratively) and feels incomplete.

If I'm not in someone's marquesina dressed like I'm going to the Oscars sitting on a plastic folding chair while eating from a paper plate IT JUST DOESN’T SLAP. I still can't believe its been 10 years of living in Georgia, away from my family and my friends. Making coquito, listening to bombazo navideño, making tostones and all these little things make me feel a bit closer to the island I left 10 years ago.

I hope that this coquito recipe makes you feel exactly how I feel when I'm drinking it with my family on Christmas morning.

Note before you start: If you’re not able to find coconut condensed milk follow the first steps of how to make it but you are able to find it go straight to coquito time!

Ingredients

For Coconut Condensed Milk

• 2-3 cans of full fat coconut milk

• 1 cup of maple syrup or agave

Additional Ingredients (If you were able to find coconut condensed milk go ahead and skip to the second half of the directions Coquito Time)

• 1 can of coconut condensed milk + 2 cans of full fat coconut milk

• 1 cup of white rum (or add more if you wanna turn up)

• 1 can of coconut milk

• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 tsp cloves

• 2 tsp nutmeg

• 2 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

How to make condensed milk:

1. Mix the full fat coconut milk and maple syrup (or agave) in a saucepan on low heat, stir often.

2. Simmer the milk and maple syrup in low heat for about 30 minutes. Make sure it does not boil!

3. After the 30 minutes, let cool completely before you mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Coquito time!

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bottle.

2. Add some more cloves and cinnamon sticks to the bottle for #aesthetics and serve chilled.

A note for all non-puertoricans: now listen, i know this is real delicious but this is meant to be enjoyed in small, shot like quantities NOT a full solo cups worth of beverage. Yes im going to gate keep coquito I SAID WHAT I SAID!