National Lampoon’s Vacation movies introduced the world to the Griswolds, a typical American family lead by their bumbling father, Clark. Nearly everyone knows a guy like Clark (if they aren't a Clark themselves). He tries...so hard...to be the best father he can. But whether it's planning a family vacation at an amusement park when the park is closed or putting the downpayment on a pool before getting his Christmas bonus, his best laid plans usually end up backfiring.
Christmas and family gatherings often invoke the vision of eggnog, laced with lots of booze (whether or not it's served in the Lalique). In fact, eggnog is Clark's drink of choice after finding out he's getting a subscription to the Jelly of the Month club for his Christmas bonus. We decided to throw Clark for a loop by making his eponymous drink a Coquito, a traditional eggnog-like drink from Puerto Rico but with more coconut and fewer eggs.
The Griswold Cocktail Recipe
- 10 oz Rum
- 1/2 can (~7 oz) Coconut Milk
- 1 cup (8 oz) Coconut Cream
- 1 can (370 ml or 12 1/2 oz) Evaporated Milk
- 1 can (300 ml or 10 oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Cinnamon Sticks
- Coster's Blackstrap Ginger Bitters
- Fee's Black Walnut Bitters
- Ground nutmeg
- Blender
- Glass mug
- Ice (optional)
Put the coconut milk, coconut cream, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and rum into the blender. Blend. Pour into a pitcher. Toss in a few cinnamon sticks. Cover and put in refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours, letting the cinnamon steep into the drink.
To serve, pour into mug (over ice if you want a colder, thinner drink), add a few drops (4-8) of your desired bitters. Swirl/stir. Top with ground nutmeg.
Cocktail Notes
First and most important, wash the tops of all the cans. These things sit in warehouses and vermin crawl over them. Take 30 seconds and rinse off the cans with hot water.
Second, a HUGE thanks to Rosemary who is an expert on all things coconut for her advice and wisdom during our making of this drink.
Rum - we used Flor de Caña Black Label - it is a nice, sweet dark rum
Coconut Milk - we used Natural Value Coconut Milk, which is usually quite liquid. This particular can had a little more coconut fat in it than usual, but that wasn't a bad thing. Store at room temperature and shake first to blend the fat and the water. If it is still separated once you open the can, stir the fat and water together. Then measure out the amount you want.
Coconut Cream - the recipe we started with called for Coco Lopez. But we don't have that brand in Canada. And since coconut cream is just the coconut fat that separates from the water with added sugar, we decided to improvise. You can get the coconut fat (sans sugar) by putting coconut milk in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Then, open the can carefully (don't shake it!) and harvest the fat off the top. The coconut milk brand we used to get the cream, Native Forest, typically has a high ratio of fat to water. We were not disappointed in this can. Just keep scraping out the fat until you hit the coconut water. (see pics)
The Martha Stewart Coquito recipe we used as a jumping off point has a LOT of rum in it. We didn't include that much rum.
We tried several bitters. These are the notes:
- Fee's Black Walnut Bitters - very good. Nice, nutty, smooth. Rosemary prefers these.
- Napa Valley Bitters' Coffee Pecan Bitters - when we were planning the drink, these are the ones we thought we would go with. But they made it a little boozier. And it tasted like we added Kahlua. If we wanted it to taste like that, we would have just added Kahlua. So...no.
- Fee's Orange Bitters - nice and floral on the finish. Still quite boozy. Still can taste the coconut.
- Dillon's Bitter Cranberry - ok, but a "what is that flavour on the end and why is it there?" sensation.
- Coster's Blackstrap Ginger Bitters - YES!! Takes the coconut down a notch. Smooths out the rum. YES! (Note - these are made by a dude named Mark Coster who is an LCBO wine rep in Toronto. How AWESOME is that?! Follow him on Twitter!)
A few of you have asked "Are you making a full drink every time you taste these bitter options? Because that's a lot of booze." Yeah, I don't think we could write these up if we were drinking 6-8 full cocktails every time. Typically, we will make the base drink and then portion off a couple of tablespoons in several glasses to test. Like this:
Inspiration:
Not much to say here, except, we need some of those moose glasses.
Comments