A Puerto Rican Chritsmas

Dec 24, 2014
2 min read

Besides being the all around greatest human that has every lived, my husband is also Puerto Rican (just when you think it couldn't get any better). And being married to him has been a culinary adventure that NEVER dissapoints.

With that being said, he puts together a delicious concoction for the holidays and gifts it to friends and family. It's an old tradition and it seems like every Puerto Rican family has their own version of it. Even though he is the greatest friend I've ever had in my whole life, I'm not biased. He makes the best Coquito.

Coquito is a very strange name for this drink because it's closest cocktail relative is Rumchata. In Puerto Rican spanish, "Coquito" comes from the slang term, "Coqui". A Coqui is actually the name for a tiny, little frog they have on the island. The other weird thing is Coqui is not the word for "Little Frog" in spanish, it's actually the sound that the little frog makes which is a little chirping and sounds just like Coquí Coquí. We spent a portion of our honeymoon on the island and the night is filled with the warm chirps of this little frog. So in a way, it's as if English speakers called a pig an Oink or a cow a Moo. And to get even weirder with all of this, when you add -ito to the end of almost any word in spanish you're basically calling it a little version of the regualr kind. So, therefore, "Coquito" acutally means "Little Puerto Rican Frog".

Anyway, leaving all the strange translations aside, THIS DRINK is the most delectable holiday drink I've ever had (and tastes nothing like a Little Puerto Rican Frog). It's SO simple to make and makes an excellent dessert too!