Episode 112: Coquito With Giuseppe González

This episode is sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Giuseppe González built his bartending reputation at bars including Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club, PKNY, and Suffolk Arms. Now working in Las Vegas, he’s made it his mission every December to share his love of coquito, a spiced rum-and-coconut drink from Puerto Rico that’s essential for celebrating the holidays. For this episode, González talks with us about coquito’s history and shares his recipe (below) and tips for making a batch to share with friends and family.

Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, exploring the people, places, and flavors of the drinkscape through conversations about cocktails, coffee, beer, spirits, and wine. Keep up with us on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. And if you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you join us—click here to subscribe.

Read the Episode

Paul Clarke 

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Radio Imbibe from Imbibe magazine. I’m Paul Clarke, Imbibe’s editor in chief. And if you caught the previous episode of this podcast, you had a chance to listen in on a conversation with Imbibe contributing editor Wayne Curtis and Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler about all kinds of holiday drinks, good and bad, and how to best navigate the season. Jeff Morgenthaler, of course, came up with an approach to eggnog that’s now the stuff of holiday cocktail legend—we’ve got an episode from 2023 that delves into the details on that. Go back and give it a listen if you haven’t already. 

But during that conversation in our previous episode, Wayne Curtis recommended mixing up a batch of another holiday drink that’s also essential to seasonal celebrations, particularly in Puerto Rico: Coquito. Coquito is increasingly a part of the holiday plan these days, not just in Puerto Rico, but all across the country. And while part of this is because of a general interest in and growing taste for the flavors and dishes and drinks that have long been a part of Caribbean culinary culture, a good chunk of the credit for coquito’s rising visibility, at least in the last few years, should go to one man who’s joining us for this episode: Giuseppe González.

Giuseppe is a veteran bartender who made his mark at places including Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club, Painkiller, and Suffolk Arms in New York City. And for the past few years, he’s been living in Las Vegas, where he’s now working for Tamba Hospitality to open a new restaurant slated to debut in just a few weeks. Giuseppe is not only an immensely talented bartender, he’s also become a chief coquito evangelist on his Instagram page, coming back to a tried and true recipe every year.

So for this episode, I asked Giuseppe González to join us and share some of the backstory behind coquito, as well as explore all the details you need to know to mix up a batch for yourself and your friends and family this holiday season.

Before we get into that conversation, we have a quick note from an advertising partner. Fa la la la la into the season with our sponsor, Tito’s Handmade Vodka. From festive libations to cozy cocktails, it’s the most wonderful time of the year to toast with your favorite holiday spirit. Distilled & Bottled by Fifth Generation, Inc., Austin, Texas. 40 percent alcohol-by-volume. Distilled from corn. Copyright 2025. Crafted to be savored responsibly.

And now, here’s our coquito conversation with Giuseppe González. 

[music]

Paul Clarke

Giuseppe González. Welcome to Radio Imbibe. 

Giuseppe González 

Hola, cómo está. I’m sorry. That was me imitating somebody who’s learning Spanish, who actually speaks Spanish. Hola, cómo esta. 

Paul Clarke

There are layers to that. 

Giuseppe González 

There are layers. 

Paul Clarke 

I need to give you the backstory here on how this interview right here started off and I mentioned this before we started recording, and we’re going back about a year ago when you posted a series of items on Instagram, if I’m remembering correctly, about coquito during the holiday season.

Giuseppe González 

Yes. 

Paul Clarke 

Including your tried and true recipe for it. And in that post you said if anybody makes your recipe, they should post a photo of it. So to start off with a confession and an apology, I made your coquito last year. It was amazing. But I didn’t take a photo and I didn’t post a photo, so sorry for not following everything to the detail. 

Giuseppe González 

You want to know something? It’s, I’m not emotionally invested in it. I post it every year. People realize, just like, I like, if you look at my Instagram feed, you’ll see around the second, third week of November, I’m like coquito for the last six years. I’m like, Oh, this is the recipe because it’s the one that people always hit me up for when I’m selling it. When I had Suffolk or there before then. So I was like, okay, let me just post it here. And the recipe I give is the one I personally use with the slight modifications. Styles change, moods change, the people you’re making it for change, what you have available changes. But like I’m like, this is the core of what it is and anybody can just like. I think what I’m trying to say is like, it’s one of those things where it’s just like, I want people to make it, you know? And I just say it’s not important that you give me credit for it. If anything that you’re making it and people see just like, Hey, man, this is accessible to you. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. 

Giuseppe González 

One of the great ways to get people to access your culture is giving them access and giving them permission and being like, Yo, guys, try it, please. This is for everybody. This is Christmas. This is the core of like Christmas, you know, like it’s the nature of giving. You know, on a side note, just like always with bartenders who keep their recipes secret. And I always find that laughable because I’m just like, yo, man, I want, I want to copy you. I want to give you credit. I want to take a piece of something you created and share it with people. You know, give me access to that, you know. And sometimes they’re just like, “Oh, this is proprietary. I don’t wanna let people know. I don’t want to be the only person that makes it.” And I’m like, Yeah, I’m not so precious with that. I’m just like, Yo, man, just, it’s like art.

Once you put art in the world, it no longer belongs to you. You know what I mean? It belongs to everybody. And how they interpret it and how they consume that is really personal, you know? So there’s no right or wrong way. I’m just like, Yo, here, here’s the recipe. Change what you want to. But like, you know, it kind of needs these things in order to be legit. 

Paul Clarke

You know, people who have made your recipes before. I mean, like, you know, when you look out there in the cocktail world, you know, a lot of people know you from the Trinidad Sour, which originated first at Clover Club, correct?

Giuseppe González 

Yes. 

Paul Clarke

So that one’s out there in the world. But now, like you said, your coquito recipe you posted for several years now. And you know, this is something that, to be fair, you were not the originator of coquito. You were just simply like making this available to people to to kind of explore something that has been out there in the world already. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh, yeah. Something like I want to say 1954. So coquito’s older than 1954, but when it became available to the masses is one core event. And that was in 1954. So 50, 70 years almost. You know what I mean? I want to say 19, but I’m calling the date on top of my head. I apologize. Basically, I’m referring to when Coco Lopez was invented. 

Paul Clarke

Okay. Right, right, right. 

Giuseppe González 

Whatnot. 

Paul Clarke 

And for people who may not have encountered coquito yet or may not have made it, what are we talking about here and why is it such a big deal at this time of year? 

Giuseppe González 

I think in order to answer that question, I have to talk about the history of coquito just a little bit. Christmas in Puerto Rico. I think all Latin American, Christian countries all have like the celebration of like when Christmas happens, the festivities begin usually around sometime mid-November and second week of January, the 12 days of Christmas, starting from December 25th until January six until the final weekend. So like Christmas for us is like two months, three months. And with that, you know, like any Christian Catholic culture, you know what I mean? There’s singing, there’s church, there’s food, there’s family.

So if we’re going to talk about the beverage that kind of like symbolizes all of that, like in America, the easiest parallel, even though I would never call it, like when people call coquito eggnog, I’m like they are physically two completely different things, but culturally they’re very similar. It’s just like, oh, like, you know, what do you think of when you think of Christmas drink? It’s like, Oh, you know what? Eggnog? You know what I mean? Christmas gifts, you know, cookies for Santa, yada, yada, yada. Well, for us, it’s basically coquito.

If we’re going back to the history of coquito, it predates 19 the 1950s, I want to say early 1900s. The main problem and forgive me for picking and choosing my words because I know there are going to be a lot of grandmothers and a lot of Puerto Ricans will be like, No, Joey, blah, blah. To them like, okay, we’re speaking broadly. One of the problems with one of the ingredients is the core ingredient, which is coconut. I joke with people, but like my way of joking is like trying to say things. I guess a satire where like, I’m joking, but I’m really serious about this or I’m just like, the Puerto Ricans gave coconuts to the world and people start laughing just like, What the hell do you mean? And just like, Oh, well, you know, before 1954, if you wanted to have any kind of product that had coconut in it, you’re pretty much resigned to dry coconut that was shippable, shelf stable. You could package it, you could send it around everywhere. So if you ever saw like anything that had coconut, usually like the grated coconut that we’re familiar with, with macarons and whatnot, and you’ll see that shelf stable.

So coquito is mainly primarily, you know, in those countries that had access to fresh coconut and they can make the coconut milk. And if you’ve ever dealt with coconut water, I mean, like everybody knows, the second you open up any kind of a fresh coconut, it oxidizes within like 15, 20 minutes. You’re dealing with something that’s oxidized and then an hour might even turn sour and it loses that freshness and everything that makes coconut great. I mean, to have a real coconut before that, the 1950s, it was like almost like I think the cocktail nerds or you can equate it to like pineapples or just like pineapples are a symbol of luxury. You know, if you had a pineapple was almost worth more than gold because you just knew, just like all the lengths that it took, just get it there. And to have it at perfect ripeness like it’s not something that’s easily accessible. And even if you had access to it, let’s say like, you know what I mean?

You’re in middle America, you know, pre 1950s. You know what I mean? Opening a coconut and then knowing what the hell to do with it. You know what I mean? Like, it’s just like so it’s really a method of preservation. So the cream of coconut, then making coconut milk, which is in itself like a 24 hour process, adding sugar and then rum. So that predates everything. But that’s mainly limited to the island of Puerto Rico because all we have to do is go outside, go to the beach and pick up the coconuts ourselves. You know what I mean? There is no middleman for us. What you get is it’s something that’s, you know, easily accessible to Puerto Rico.

Well, there’s a man named Ramon Irizarry Lopez, who Coco Lopez is a named after, there was a grant from University of Puerto Rico. He’s basically agriculturist, but he’s also an inventor. I mean, he invents Coco Lopez. He figures out a way to make the coconut milk. He figures out a way to create this brand new product that people may or may not like, but it’s shelf stable and all of a sudden you can put it in a can and you can ship it everywhere. Once you have that product, then you start seeing what we recognize as coquito around the world.

I’ve talked to Wondrich about this. And I remember when we were talking about Coco Lopez, who’s just like the first people to ever use it, were like pastry people, because obviously, you know what I mean? you have this new flavor lab, you can put it in everything. So it’s getting put in different things like cakes and freakin macarons. And of course, in Puerto Rico, there’s already a dish that exists called arroz con coco. It’s basically a dessert dish. But you basically take, what, steamed white rice, cooking spices, what we know as pumpkin spices, whatever the hell. Classic cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, clove, all that stuff. And coconut milk. You cook it there, you know, it’s basically a dessert dish.

So when I give people the recipe for the coquito, I’m just like, Yo, it’s the most shelf-stable, barebones ingredients. It’s just canned products, canned, evaporated milk, canned coconut, and then add your spices. That’s usually the one I give people when they argue with me is like, Oh, it has this, that has this has this. I’m just like, Yes, you know what I mean? It’s like the Old Fashioned. How do you make an Old Fashioned? Just like I can give you 20 recipes from 20 different eras, but when I give you the bare bones, I’m just like, you’ve have those three things. You can make something that’s decent, you can make something, and then you can amplify it. You can add your favorite rum, you know, change the ratios of it, do whatever the hell.

But once you have that one ingredient, Coco Lopez, it goes from being something that’s isolated to only one place to being one of those things you can make around the world. And then it’s just like, you know, culturally, like, you know, like you see the memes online where it’s just like, Oh, it’s Christmas season, you know what I mean? And it just like the grandmas are going to make their money, you know, just like it. And you see, you see them sending your kids. You can either buy the coquito from her, don’t buy it from her, her coquito is bad. You get it from her. You know what I mean? It’s not something you can get in liquor stores. It’s only available one time of the year.

I mean, you usually have a friend, you know what I mean? Who makes it? They make it in batches and it gets bottled. And then, of course, that’s where you see, like, culturally, you know, it’s just like we’re talking about 70 years of history, especially when you’re talking about the history of Puerto Ricans or it’s just like, oh, like, you know, you’re always trying to bring pieces of home, you know, to where you are, just like, oh, man, you don’t I mean, I can’t be in Puerto Rico, but I can eat like I’m there. You know, I can celebrate Christmas like I’m there, you know? So it’s always like, you know, just like you have a big piece of pork and coquito and you’re set. You know what I mean? You’re ready to go. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. Right. And I like how you put it, the recipe that we’re about to talk about here in a few minutes. This is this is a framework structure. It’s but it’s nothing to get too precious about, rright? You can tweak it. You can you can adjust it as you like. 

Giuseppe González 

And I encourage it. I always tell people just like, try it. Try the base form. Try it. Try it at its most simple. I were to give you the more popular recipes, some of them have condensed milk. Some people add eggs to it. Basically, they’re trying to change the density and richness of it. Different. The spices are always different. What people throw in there, some are heavy cinnamon, some star anise, some no star anise.

You know, those are like the minutia where I’m just like, oh, well, you know what I mean? This is how you can, you know, differentiate and create your own style. You know, but to say there’s a hard recipe, I’m just like, yeah, like, like I don’t do that with classic cocktails. It’s impossible.

Like, I’ve had guests from Wisconsin tell me that’s not how you make an Old Fashioned. And I’m just like, Absolutely. Tell me. I know exactly what you’re asking me for, but I’m not going to and I’m not going to enter the debate with something you’ve had your whole life. That’s a losing argument. And it’s not one where it’s just like you’re mad like I’m opening myself to understanding. Oh, well, that’s how you do it over there. That’s cool, man. Like, let me see how that works for. 

Paul Clarke

Right, right, right, exactly. So let’s get to the recipe into your framework recipe that you provide. And just walk us through this, the ingredients of what goes into this. And then after we’ve done that, we can talk about the process because the process is an important part of this. 

Giuseppe González 

I mean, a coquito recipe to me is kind of useless if you’re making it for one. So it’s always going to be a big-batch cocktail because you don’t make one glass of it, you know, like to order, you know what I mean? And if anything, the longer you let it sit and longer you let things work, it’s always better. So I basically have it broken down by standardized cans. So I’m just like, Yo, you just buy the cans, open them up, and that’s it. Like no brainer. 60 ounces of evaporated milk, 60 ounces of cream of coconut. Coco Lopez is the original.

I’m weird about vanilla extract so I always tell people get the expensive vanilla extract. Don’t buy the cheap vanilla extract because the second you Google where the cheap vanilla extract comes from, it will not make your day and you’ll be like, they actually make you drink this. I’m just like, Yes, this is how it works and I’m not going to amplify that.

Mexican cinnamon sticks. I alternate between this between Mexican cinnamon and Ceylon cinnamon. Indian cinnamon. Mexican cinnamon is what? Like, you know, the flavor that we’re really used to in like Latin American kitchen. So if you want something more authentic, you got Mexican cinnamon. But personally, I think Ceylon cinnamon is like the greatest thing on the freakin planet. Like, I’m like, Oh, I got. But that’s where the traditionalist, you know, like, you know, push back and they’ll be like, Oh, this tastes like fireball. And I’m like, Yeah, it is delicious. I’m like, it’s like that fire cinnamon. So if you want to keep it out, that’s basically the cinnamon, also known as cassia cinnamon, star anise, cloves. I mean, like I always add very little touches.

I’m Puerto Rican, so I’m always going to tell you, use Puerto Rican rum. You’ll never get me to ever say anything else other than Puerto Rican rum. But if I were to theoretically ever have not used Puerto Rican rum, I mean, like anything from Haiti is freaking killer. Like the pot stills from Haiti, the pot stills from Jamaica. I mean, if you have like the Guatemalan Zacapa style, like rich, I mean, like, you can’t go wrong with I mean, yes, you can go wrong. But like, if you’re using something that, you know is quality and not, you know, like you’re going to be fine, I just warn people, just like if you’re changing grades of rum, so let’s say you’re going from a silver to an aged rum, you know, just see where your sweetness is. Like, you know, that’s where you can actually play around. 

Paul Clarke

That’s where, that’s what my next question was going to be is on the rum. Are are you looking for ideally something a little age on it or you want a silver? Do you want or do you want a white rum? 

Giuseppe González 

Personally, I always like aged rum, especially when you’re using cooking spices. I mean, just the cooking spices are the equivalent of Angostura bitters. So just like those amplify what’s already in the rum that comes out a little bit more rum forward. My experience is like when I use the silver rum, the old people complain. They’re like, This isn’t strong enough. And I’m like, Oh God. Like, it’s actually the exact same amount. But like, you know, like, like that rum forwardness isn’t there. Like, you know, you don’t feel like you’re drinking rum when you’re drinking a silver rum, then everything else kind of gets highlighted.

So if you’re looking for something that’s more like coconut and spiced, you know, go to silver rum. If you’re looking for something more rum forward that has those richer flavors. Go with the dark rums like that’s the easiest. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. 

Giuseppe González 

If you know that you have the grandmas there, just like use the aged rum. Trust me, they won’t complain. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. Let me and let me ask you one other clarifying question, which, you know, at the outset, we’ve been talking about Coco Lopez cream of coconut. I recall last year when I went out in my own journey in my life to make coquito, and I went to the two grocery stores closest to me. They’re both sold out of Coco Lopez. And so rather than be deterred, I let my friend Google provide some help in terms of like putting together my own kind of cream of coconut using coconut cream, which is unsweetened basically super thick. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh, the Thai stuff. 

Paul Clarke 

Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

The Thai stuff. Yeah. 

Paul Clarke 

Exactly. And then finding, like the amount of sugar to add to that, they kind of mimic Coco Lopez. And, you know, I think I use Darcy O’Neil’s recipe that he had posted online a number of years back about how to do this. Are you yea or nay on doing something like that? 

Giuseppe González 

All right. So long story short, when I used to own a bar called Painkiller back in 2010 and I used to make my own cream of coconut for Piña Coladas. I think it’s fantastic. And it’s great for coquito. The only issue is I always warn people that the thing about Coco Lopez, that emulsifies incredibly well. So you have one product and it throws people off when you actually make your own cream of coconut and you don’t have any kind of emulsifiers because you’re trying to keep it as natural as possible.

This is an issue primarily because I’ll try to make vegan versions of coquito just using coconut milk. Straight through. And it won’t emulsify. So you’ll have to add some kind of emulsifiers and then or something. But then it kind of defeats the purpose kind of deal. Or just like, oh, if you have two sides and you’re trying to get a more natural product.

So like if you’re making your own cream coconut, will it taste better? You know, that’s really subjective. I would say that you would get a product that’s richer and when you use the Thai stuff, like there’s so much coconut oil in it, like, you know, getting like, like you literally have like you have to cook that product first and then sit it down.

If I were to put coquito on a menu where I’m not trying to use any kind of canned products where I’m just like, you know, straight from scratch, you know what I mean? High-end mixology, whatever the hell. The things I would warn bartenders, I would warn anybody trying to do it that way would just be like, All right, it’s going to be it’s going to have separation. It’s going to be freaking fantastic. But just keep in mind that like when you put after you make it and you put it in the fridge because it’s going to be shelf stable, like the amount of it’s not the shelf stability I’m worried about. You’re just going to see a separate product like it’s going to separate. And the coconut oil has a different cold temperature than the rest of the liquid.

So like if you put it in the fridge and you take it out, all of a sudden you’re going to see this hard cap of oil rise to the top and just go, That’s the coconut oil. You’re going to have to put it back at room temperature. You have to shake the bottle. 

Paul Clarke

Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

You know what I mean? You didn’t do anything wrong. You know, it’s just not an emulsified product. This one, you know, the one. The one I make it just like it all emulsify is pretty. Well, if you add temperature, if you just, you know, like or if you can blend it real quick, like, you know what I mean? And it’ll stay like that forever. The canned products have a lot of signs that we may or may not be freaking happy with right …

Paul Clarke 

Yeah. Yeah.

Giuseppe González 

Now. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. So. So you went down your list of ingredients. You’ve got everything on hand. What’s the process? What’s the technique for doing that? 

Giuseppe González 

I mean, if you’re going to go the simplest way in the recipe, I tell people they need to heat everything up. You technically don’t need to do that at all. You can literally open the cans, get a hand blender, throw the spices in their rum, and just let it sit for a day, because that’ll infuse. It’ll do a slow infusion, you know, but it’ll infuse.

The real pain in that recipe is basically getting the infusion because you have to treat it like a tea. You know, I mean, every time using the spices, you treat like a tea, so you’re going to have to add temperature to it. Also, Coco Lopez, they may or may not say they don’t or like, but they don’t standardize the amount of coconut oil that is in things like they’ll measure it. Certain cans will have more than others. It’s still Coco Lopez and it’s still consistent. You know, it’s still the same flavor. But like, you know, the densities will be different.

And let’s say you’re like when you open up the cans, you know what I mean? Like, you’ve seen it. But I always tell people, warm the cans up first, put the put the can in hot water, get it down to room temperature so it becomes an easy product to pour out because when you open up that one can you’re going to have to heat it anyway.

So I just included that in the recipe, like treat it like a tea. So just like get all your get all your products except rum all in one pot, bring it up to temperature. When I say temperature, I mean like bring it up to boil and then simmer and then take off and then just let it chill like you don’t want to you don’t want to have it boiling. You just bring it up to boil and then take that to bring it up to boil and take it off the stove. 

Paul Clarke

Yeah. You’re you’re not really cooking it. You’re just kind of bringing out the temperature. So. So it’s ready for that infusion from the …

Giuseppe González 

Exactly. 

Paul Clarke

… spice. Yeah. Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

And then and then you just take it all off the stove. Then when it the temperature goes down, then you can add rum. So you don’t actually cook out any of the rum. Filter out the spices, call it a day. Usually when I bottle it there’s a cinnamon stick in there because it’s more festive and there’s no such thing as too much cinnamon in a coquito. I’m like, Oh, this is delicious. But, you know, that’s a personal thing. You know what I’m saying?

But if you wanted to do it, like, the most authentic, like, imagine you’re a person that lives on an island that doesn’t have running refrigeration every place. You know what I mean? And everything is usually cooked outside or some kind of, like, hot, like your stove is basically a wood stove, but you have canned products everywhere because those are shelf stable and you can get those anywhere. You literally can just throw it all in there. You can make it in like, literally, like, like. It’ll take you 24 hours, but the prep will take you 5 minutes. You know what I mean? Then you can just ignore. 

Paul Clarke

Right. 

Giuseppe González 

You know what I’m saying? 

Paul Clarke 

Yeah. Just dump everything like a five-gallon bucket.

Giuseppe González 

Just dump everything, boom and then walk away and then filter and bottle it up. And the kids are happy for Christmas. And that’s a beautiful thing about it, you know what I mean? Just like, of course, like when culture comes into things, just like, oh, people start making it more complex, adding things to it, you know? And that’s the beauty of like, that’s why I’m about to go mixology nerd a little bit.

But like, what are the reason why when I tell bartenders when they’re inventing drinks, I always tell them just like, oh, like, make sure your drink is replicable. Like the old fashioned. You know what I mean? The Old Fashioned has been around for 200 years. You know why? Because it’s three simple ingredients that you think that every bar has, and then you can make variations on. It’s replicable. So like, when you have. And that’s why it becomes a classic. Something like the Trinidad Sour with me, You know what I mean? Pretty much any bar in the world can make a Trinidad Sour like, you know, as or not, every bar carries orgeat, but the big majority carry whiskey. 

Paul Clarke

If that’s the trickiest, if that’s the trickiest ingredient to come across, then you’re doing pretty well. 

Giuseppe González 

Yeah, exactly. And if you throw a simple syrup in there, it would still be I would still call it a Trinidad Sour, because it has good bones. And when I say it has good bones, I mean, like, you can interchange things. 

Paul Clarke 

Mm hmm. 

Giuseppe González 

And move them around or change the ratios of it. And it’s still going to be that drink, the probably the best drink that has bones, like the best bones that I give any cocktail classic I would always say is the negroni, or I’m just like, too much gin? It’s pretty good. Too much Campari? It’s pretty good. Too much vermouth? still pretty good. And it always going to be Negroni, you know what I mean? You know, I understand what that drink is so …

Paul Clarke

Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

Like a …

Paul Clarke

Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

.. you know, a coquito. To me it’s just like, oh, like …

Paul Clarke

Mm.

Giuseppe González 

You’re …

Paul Clarke

Hmm. 

Giuseppe González 

Just like, Oh, you made this too strong. It’s still pretty good, you know? It’s sweet. Still pretty good. 

Paul Clarke

Can we talk about the texture just a little bit? Because it is going to be really thick …

Giuseppe González 

Yes. 

Paul Clarke

At first, but it kind of like it changes over time. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh, yeah. 

Paul Clarke

Make it early or mid-December and hang on to it and make a batch, you know, big enough to get you through the holidays. That’s going to change over time.

Giuseppe González 

Oh, yeah. I mean, like, things get concentrated. I don’t want I don’t know if it’s the Coco Lopez. I don’t know how the emulsification works. I heard a story once. I was doing research on the Piña Colada invented at the Caribbean Hilton, and they let me see where they were and they make their Piña Coladas. And I was looking. And one of the steps in the recipe for them was to actually take the pineapple juice and the Coco Lopez and the rum. And you let it sit for 24 hours, even 48 hours, and you’re like, you can’t make it and then put it in the machine. I think they were using like different, like slushy machines. Some make it in blenders, but like you always had the pre batch. And I was like, Why? And they’re just like, Oh, you let it sit for 24 hours. It homogenizes better, becomes richer, you know. And I think that’s that’s the core of it. Like there’s something that happens.

It may be an ingredient that’s in the drink. I always think that if you just like if you have enough booze and things that the flavor start playing better, you know, like it becomes more harmonious, it definitely becomes richer. I wish I could tell you like what the science is. I always get. Like, that’s why I like whenever whenever I make this, come November, people aren’t really going to hit me. I’ll make it like some time around, like third week in November, and then I’ll do another batch, second week of December. Because when Christmas comes, I’m like, Oh, it’ll be ready, it’s ready to go, yada, yada, yada.

If you keep it in the fridge, I mean, like one thing I can tell you off the bat is that because of the like, like I said, with the coconut oil, if you have an emulsified product that has coconut oil in it and you put it in the fridge, that stabilizes it and changes the texture of it. So like, it’s like one of those things where it’s like, Oh, if you serve it at room temperature, it’s it becomes a little bit runnier. Whereas if you just put it in the fridge, things become a little bit more stable or chilled product, you know? So your difference would probably be between whole milk to half and half, maybe even more, depending on how much Coco Lopez you add in there, I’m guessing it’s the coconut oil. That to me is what makes the most sense. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. Okay. And then in terms of serving it. 

Giuseppe González 

I mean, like I always keep it in the fridge. If you give anybody, like, warm coquito, they’ll look at you like you’re dumb. But that being said, like I, I’m always of the school that like, oh, like, you know, like always serve things on ice when you have the chance.

With coquito, I’m like, oh, you know, like, people don’t don’t want ice. They just expect it to be cold, almost like a chilled product, almost like, like white wine. The only time I don’t keep like, I know a lot of people that do it, like they’ll have their coquito after Christmas and they start putting it in their coffee and then it’s like, okay, then they just put it anywhere. They just put it like right next to their coffee maker and dump it in there and whatnot. But that being said, like, you know, when you said to this guy, you put yours in the fridge, I’m just like, yeah, I just like, put it in the fridge, small cup like, or maybe grate some nutmeg in there, you know, if you want to finish it off. But like, you know, as long as it’s cold.

Paul Clarke

Right. Okay. Yeah. I was going to say on Christmas morning, I think my wife just put hers in her coffee and, you know, that’s not a terrible idea. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh, God. They all do it, man. They all do it. It’s amazing that or some. And it’s like there’s like, this thing which is like an and it’s just like that. And it’s coffee or coquito coffee. I’m just waiting for Starbucks to steal it, which they haven’t done it already. And then it’s coquito lattes, which they actually do in Puerto Rico, which I’m not hating when I’m, I’m being passive aggressive about this. Like, I’m not hating it because it is delicious. 

Paul Clarke

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

Can’t get hate. You can’t like, it’s like. Like I said, with art. Just like what? You put it out in the world. You can’t be mad, you know, just like, coquito for the people, you know what I mean? Starbucks decides to do something with. It’s like, you know, God damn it. 

Paul Clarke

We’ve covered the ingredients, the preparation, the serving and everything. Any final thoughts, any final considerations we should think of on coquito as we head toward the exit here? 

Giuseppe González 

I mean, I’ve always made coquito. But I’ve been really vocal about like having people outside of Puerto Rico try it, you know what I mean? Like as a Puerto Rican, as a Latino, You know what I mean? I always want to share things that we have that are beautiful with other people. And just like that’s how we connect. You know what I mean? That, to me, is the most basic thing. I’m always looking to go to a new restaurant and try something new. Right now I’m working for an Indian restaurant and my knowledge on Indian cuisine is good. But it’s not like at the level where my my chef is a Michelin star chef. So, like, every time I talk to him, I’m like, Oh, what’s that? What’s that? What’s that? And it’s like, after you’ve been bartending for like 20, 30 years, you know what I mean? Like, you know, it’s hard to get excited about things. So seeing this whole plethora of ingredients, I’m like, Oh, what’s that? What’s that? You know? And that’s what I want people to experience when they have coquito.

I’m just like, Yo, man, you know, try it, please make it for yourselves. It’s so simple. I’ve made it. I’ve made it so that everybody has access to it and just tell me if you like it, you know, see if you want to incorporate to it. You know what I mean? I mean, I think enough people are asking, you know, about it, you know, like now where it’s like like it’s becoming more and more well-known. I’d like at one point I’ll feel my job is done when people are like eggnog. What’s that? No, no, no. Coquito. Then I’m like. We win. 

Paul Clarke 

Right. Right. The episode immediately preceding this one that folks are listening to Jeff Morgenthaler, they’re talking about eggnog. And we have his recipe online as well. So it is the you know, we’re trying to keep everybody happy for the holidays. We have an eggnog recipe. We’ve got the coquito recipe. We’ve got insight into both of them. So please try out both of them. And really, it’s there’s there’s a lot of joy to be found. 

Giuseppe González 

I actually take shots at Jeff. But it’s not really like take shots at him because every time I post a coquito recipe, I’m just like, Well, if you’re going to make eggnog, the only one you should freakin make is is Jeff’s, because all the other ones are horrible, but his is actually fantastic. And he’s like, Joey, really? And I’m just like, You know, I love you, but it really is the …

Paul Clarke 

Yeah. 

Giuseppe González 

… best. I think it’s a tequila sherry and the way he does it. And he’s so great at teaching because it’s like if you don’t know how to make eggnog, you know, to me, especially cooking eggs and then tempering them, like learning that like that’s make or break. And he’s really good at like being like, Hey, this is like, let’s eliminate that step and go here and blah. I’m like, Oh, okay, okay, okay. Which is funny because just like, I’ve actually made his eggnog and my grandmother liked it more than my coquito, but I’m just guessing she only said that because she’s never had eggnog before. She’s like tequila? I was like, Okay, yeah, okay, I’ll put tequila in the coquito the next time and then I’ll win your love again. 

Paul Clarke 

Oh. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh. 

Paul Clarke

Wow. Wow. well, Joey, thank you so much for taking …

Giuseppe González 

Thank you, Paul.

Paul Clarke 

… the time, for sharing everything and going over all of this with us. And happy holidays, man. 

Giuseppe González 

Oh, man. You, too. I’m actually flying to Puerto Rico tomorrow, so I’m excited. I’m going to go eat my grandmother’s food and gain another 15 pounds. It’s going to be great. 

Paul Clarke

Beautiful. Beautiful. 

[music]

Paul Clarke

You can find just Giuseppe González on Instagram at Giuseppe_González. We’ve got a link for you in this episode’s notes where you’ll also find all the recipe details for this classic coquito. 

And that’s it for this episode. Thanks again to our sponsor for this episode, Tito’s Handmade Vodka. We’ve got tons of recipes and articles for you online at our website imbibemagazine.com. You’ll also find our full back catalog of Radio Imbibe episodes there and be sure to subscribe to Radio Imbibe on your favorite podcast app to keep up with future episodes as we head into 2025. Keep up with us on Instagram, Pinterest threads and Facebook for all our day to day coverage. And if you’re not already a subscriber to the print and or digital issues of Imbibe, then it’s high time we brought you on board. Just follow the link in this episode’s notes and we’ll be happy to help you out. I’m Paul Clarke. This is Radio Imbibe. Happy holidays, everybody, and catch you next time.