Authentic Puerto Rican Coquito

Fill the bottles with very hot water and allow them to sterilize for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, discard the hot water from the bottles, then add two or three cinnamon sticks to the bottles. Set aside while you prepare the recipe.

Add the coconut water, cinnamon sticks, star anise, split vanilla bean, cloves, and allspice berries to a 2-quart pot. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and allow it to boil for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow the spices to steep in the hot water for 10-15 minutes.

After 10 minutes of steeping, strain the tea into a blender and add the cream of coconut. Gradually whisk in the warm tea into the egg yolks, if you're adding them, now, as well.If your tea feels cool to the touch, heat it again until it steams, then add it to the blender or a bowl with the cream of coconut. Press the paste from the vanilla bean into the tea in the blender after straining the spice tea into the blender.

Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, all three rums, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract (which is optional) to the blender with the spice tea and cream of coconut. *You can add canned coconut milk to the blender and the rest of the ingredients if you want a richer, creamier-tasting coquito. Blend the ingredients for 1 minute on medium-low speed until smooth.

Put a fine-mesh sieve lined with a clean tea towel on a funnel. Carefully pour the liquid through the strainer and into the bottles using the funnel and leaving a 1-inch headspace at the top of each bottle of coquito so you can shake the spices back into it later.

Refrigerate and let the coquito chill for at least forty-eight hours to allow the flavors to blend and the alcohol flavor to mellow out.

To serve coquito, remove the bottle from the refrigerator and give it a good shake to reincorporate the spices. Serve the coquito in old-fashioned glasses with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon or grated from cinnamon sticks.