Coconut cream - just want to make sure - Tiki Drinks and Food

LL Limbo Lizard Tiki Socialite Aboard the 'Leaky Tiki', Dallas Joined: Aug 24, 2006 Posts: 788	LL Limbo Lizard Posted posted on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 1:11 PM On 2009-02-17 10:48, DJ HawaiianShirt wrote: This is a great topic/thread, but I'm confused about a few things. Allow me to number them: So, is it coconut cream or cream of coconut that should be used in most Tiki drinks? It is "Cream of Coconut" (e.g., Coco Lopez), which is heavily sweetened and concentrated coconut milk/cream, usually stocked among drink mixers. "Coconut Cream" is usually unsweetened, in a can, and stocked with Thai or Indian cooking ingredients. I don't have my books with me now, but are there different Beachbum recipes that call for one and not the other, or is it always CoCo Lopez(which, without a doubt, is cream of coconut?)? I believe he would be referring to the sweetened cream of coconut, even if he happened to use the term, "coconut cream", unless he specifically says he means the unsweetened, canned cooking item, and not the drink mixer. Do you think we can assume that the Bum has his nomenclature correct in all his recipes inasmuch as his requested ingredients on the page are indeed what's needed? I'd have to make a careful reading, but in a book of cocktail recipes, readers would automatically assume both "cream of coconut" and "coconut cream" to mean the Coco Lopez-type drink-mixing product. If the author meant the canned coconut milk - again - he'd make a special point of clarifying that he does NOT mean the typical sweetened drink mixer. Or, do some drinks benefit from one over the other (in terms of what's traditional or the norm, not according to personal taste?) I don't know of any "traditional" drinks that use coconut cream, rather than cream of coconut. One would be commonly available, behind the bar. The other might be available in certain kitchens. I'm lost unless I have some hard-coded rules in front of me for things like this. Well, there you have them, and good thing..., because when it comes to tiki drink mixing, you must remember to NEVER break the rules! [ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2009-02-17 13:16 ]

On 2009-02-17 10:48, DJ HawaiianShirt wrote:
This is a great topic/thread, but I'm confused about a few things. Allow me to number them:

So, is it coconut cream or cream of coconut that should be used in most Tiki drinks?

It is "Cream of Coconut" (e.g., Coco Lopez), which is heavily sweetened and concentrated coconut milk/cream, usually stocked among drink mixers. "Coconut Cream" is usually unsweetened, in a can, and stocked with Thai or Indian cooking ingredients.

I don't have my books with me now, but are there different Beachbum recipes that call for one and not the other, or is it always CoCo Lopez(which, without a doubt, is cream of coconut?)?

I believe he would be referring to the sweetened cream of coconut, even if he happened to use the term, "coconut cream", unless he specifically says he means the unsweetened, canned cooking item, and not the drink mixer.

Do you think we can assume that the Bum has his nomenclature correct in all his recipes inasmuch as his requested ingredients on the page are indeed what's needed?

I'd have to make a careful reading, but in a book of cocktail recipes, readers would automatically assume both "cream of coconut" and "coconut cream" to mean the Coco Lopez-type drink-mixing product. If the author meant the canned coconut milk - again - he'd make a special point of clarifying that he does NOT mean the typical sweetened drink mixer.

Or, do some drinks benefit from one over the other (in terms of what's traditional or the norm, not according to personal taste?)

I don't know of any "traditional" drinks that use coconut cream, rather than cream of coconut. One would be commonly available, behind the bar. The other might be available in certain kitchens.

I'm lost unless I have some hard-coded rules in front of me for things like this.

Well, there you have them, and good thing..., because when it comes to tiki drink mixing, you must remember to NEVER break the rules!

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2009-02-17 13:16 ]

Post #434745 by Limbo Lizard on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 1:11 PM