Saoco

Ingredients

Coconut

• 1green drinking coconut, well chilled

Spirit

• 60 mlwhite rum, or aguardiente

Sometimes added

• 1 tspsugar or sugar syrup
• a squeeze of lime
• a few ice cubes

Equipment

• a machete or a heavy cleaver
• a firm chopping block
• a straw

Note

• opening a coconut with a heavy blade needs real care

Directions

1. Shake it: you should hear plenty of liquid sloshing. Refrigerate the whole coconut for several hours.
2. Use a firm stable block that will not move. Keep your other hand well clear of the blade path. Cut down and away from yourself rather than towards. Do not attempt it with a small kitchen knife.
3. Stand the coconut upright on the block. Trim the husk away from the top with the blade. Work around the top, taking shallow slices. Making the opening takes a few strikes.
4. Turn the nut and strike again in the same circle. Three or four strikes should crack a lid free. Keep the lid, since it is used as a spoon later. Widen the hole enough for a straw.
5. Pour a little of the coconut water out if the nut is very full. Otherwise the rum will overflow. Pour the rum straight into the nut. Add sugar or lime if you want them. Stir it with a long spoon or the straw. Rum and coconut water do not mix on their own.
6. Pour more if you want it stronger. Taste it through the straw and adjust. Serving it is done immediately and cold.
7. Put a straw in and drink it from the nut. Add a couple of ice cubes if it is not cold enough. Scrape the soft jelly-like flesh out with the cut lid.

Technique

• Chill the whole coconut first, since there is no way to chill it once open.
• A heavy blade on a round nut can skid; use a stable block and keep your hand clear.
• Stir it, since rum and coconut water do not mix on their own.

Substitutions

• A corkscrew or strong skewer through the softest eye, which is far safer.
• Aguardiente in place of white rum.

Variations

• With a squeeze of lime added.
• Made sweeter, with sugar syrup.
• Poured into a glass over ice instead of drunk from the nut.

History

A Cuban beach and countryside drink combining rum with coconut water, long sold by vendors who machete open the nut to order.

Frequently asked questions

What is Saoco?

Saoco is a cocktail from Cuba: rum poured straight into a green coconut and drunk through a straw. A Cuban beach and countryside drink combining rum with coconut water, long sold by vendors who machete open the nut to order.

How long does Saoco take to make?

Saoco takes 10 min of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes 1 coconut. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Saoco?

Yes, within limits. A corkscrew or strong skewer through the softest eye, which is far safer. Aguardiente in place of white rum.

What is the most important thing to get right in Saoco?

Shake it: you should hear plenty of liquid sloshing. Refrigerate the whole coconut for several hours.