Yield1.5 liters
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time12 hours
Combine your water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and ginger root in a medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Maintain a low boil until the water has turned deep brown and reduced to about 2 cups (about 10 minutes), then remove from heat.
After the water has cooled slightly, strain it into a glass container (filtering out the spices), cover, and refrigerate to chill.
Once your spiced water has thoroughly chilled, add it to a blender together with your three types of coconut milk, vanilla extract, and salt, and blend until smooth.
Place your coquito in the refrigerator and chill overnight (12 hours). You can leave the coquito in the blender pitcher, or transfer it to another glass container.
Add rum to your coquito (if using) and mix well. If your coquito is still in the blender pitcher, you can return it to the blender to mix. Use a funnel to pour the coquito into tall glass bottles and enjoy!
If you can't buy canned sweetened condensed or evaporated coconut milk, check the blog post for instructions to make your own.
For an alcohol-free coquito, replace the rum with an equal amount of plant milk; you can add this in with the other ingredients, no need to wait until the end.
Make sure you start a day in advance! Refrigerating the coquito overnight is critical to allow the spices to infuse into the coconut milk.
There are many ways to make coquito; feel free to adjust the amount of rum, add sugar, or change the spices in the spice tea. Star anise and nutmeg are other popular spice options.
Be sure to shake up your cans of coconut milk before opening.
If you have any leftover coquito, it will last several days in the refrigerator in an airtight glass bottle. I don't recommend freezing.