The Tropical Eggnog Cocktail To Make When The Mulled Wine Runs Out

Whether it be mulled wine, a hot toddy, or anything with peppermint schnapps, there are plenty of festive cocktails to indulge in during the holiday season. If you're more of an eggnog person, your options are somewhat limited. There aren't many cocktails that call for eggnog, and it's typically enjoyed on its own unless you decide to spike it with a splash of booze. If you're a fan of tropical fruit, however, you may want to consider incorporating your eggnog into a piña colada.

Piña coladas typically call for pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and white rum, but there's plenty of room in the cocktail for eggnog. The flavors of eggnog are actually very compatible with rum because it has the ability to counteract the richness of the egg and dairy. Its sweetness also pairs well with the eggnog's vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the pineapple and cream of coconut to it, and you get a surprisingly tasty drink.

Based on the ingredients, an eggnog piña colada tastes like a cross between a coquito and a piña colada. A coquito is a Puerto Rican cocktail that contains evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Similar to eggnog, it also contains egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and warm spices like cinnamon and clove. But much like a piña colada, a coquito is made with white rum and cream of coconut. The only thing that's missing is the pineapple juice.

If you make an eggnog piña colada simply by adding eggnog to any piña colada recipe, it'll be extremely creamy, because it'll contain the milk and cream from the eggnog in addition to the cream of coconut. For a less creamy result, you could always swap the cream of coconut for coconut milk, or even remove it altogether and use a coconut rum such as Malibu instead of white rum.

Piña coladas are a fairly easy drink to make because even if you for example add more pineapple than coconut or vice versa, it should still turn out good. Add eggnog into the equation, however, and it isn't exactly foolproof. When you mix pineapple with dairy, it can easily curdle because it's acidic. The good news is, there's a way around it.

Since other ingredients such as cream of coconut can raise the pH of the drink, you can technically get away with adding the eggnog last and serving your piña colada immediately. A safer option however is to either cook your pineapple juice beforehand or use canned pineapple juice which has been heat treated. Since heating kills the bromelain, it won't curdle the milk as readily.

The lower the fat content of the dairy, the easier it'll curdle, so try to stay away from the fat-free kind if you're using store-bought eggnog. If you make your eggnog from scratch, you could even use a dairy-free recipe. Even if your piña colada does end up curdling, it's still safe to consume and will be just as festive and delicious.