Creamy, coconutty, and wonderfully spiced, this dairy-free vegan coquito is the perfect drink for the holidays! Add some rum to make it extra delicious, or skip the rum for a kid-friendly coquito. Tip: Make sure your plant milk and rum is cold before getting started!
Make vegan milk syrup: Combine 2 cups plant milk with ¾ - 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, 2 cinnamon sticks (or ground cinnamon), and nutmeg in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring once in a while, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture becomes syrupy, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Place the saucepan into an ice bath (a large bowl filled with ice) so it cools down quickly. Remove the cinnamon sticks.
Once cool, combine the vegan milk syrup with the rest of the plant milk, canned coconut milk, vanilla extract, and ¾ cup rum in a blender. Blend for a few seconds until completely smooth. Taste and add more rum, if needed. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Optional step to add a coconut rim to the glass: Add the shredded coconut to a food processor and process until it is a fine powder, almost like snow. Transfer the coconut "snow" onto a plate. Dip the dip of your glass into agave nectar (or water, but the agave is thicker and holds the coconut better), then dip into the coconut powder. Take care not to mess up the decoration when you pour the coquito into your glass.
Serve coquito cold or over ice, garnishing with cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, or vegan whipped cream.
Notes
→ For the 4 cups of plant milk, choose a neutral tasting plant milk, such as Silk's NextMilk, NotMilk, almond milk, oat milk, or a blend or almond/coconut or cashew milk. The kind in the refrigerated section in a carton. I really like Califia Coconut & Almond milk blend for coquito because it's thick. I don't recommend using soy milk or more canned coconut milk.→ Using 1 cup of sugar makes a really sweet, dessert-like coquito. I find that the rum nicely balances out the sugar though! For a non-alcoholic coquito, I would use ¾ cup sugar just to make a less sugary drink.→ What kind of rum to use: I used a dark spiced rum, I find that it works best for this recipe! If you only have white rum on hand, that would work too. A flavored coconut rum would make this vegan coquito extra coconutty and tropical-tasting!