It wouldn't be the winter holidays without a few polarizing food and beverage choices including questionable cookies, , and of course, eggnog, a drink where people hotly debate , whether it's , or . To throw one more question into the mix, would you consider the Puerto Rican drink coquito to be a subcategory of eggnog, or is it its own thing? We won't take sides on the last-named issue, other than to note that eggnog, with its roots in medieval monasteries, is likely to be the older of the two drinks. It's possible that the Spanish introduced the drink to the Caribbean where it was adapted to make use of the rum that was being produced in Puerto Rico starting in the 16 century.
As eggnog is often made with rum as an alternative to whiskey, brandy, or other types of liquor, the rum isn't the key component that separates coquito from a more standard eggnog. If there's one difference that really stands out, it would be the inclusion of coconut milk (the name "coquito," after all, means "little coconut"), but even this ingredient alone doesn't tell the whole story. Coquito includes several types of canned milk but no eggs Your basic eggnog consists of little more than eggs, sugar, milk and/or cream, plus the booze of your choice if you're going the spiked route.
(If you're not a medieval monk, spirits are entirely optional.) You can also spice it up with nutmeg, cinnamon, or even cloves (if you must). If you're making coquito, however, the first step is to grab a can opener, sinc.