…or at least that’s what everybody says. Of course we agree and that’s why we decided to share our highlights of the Christmas time in Old San Juan.

Of course the parties, where family and friends are coming together to celebrate. One of our favorites are the parrandas, groups of people walking around the city with instruments and their famous songs that everybody can join in on. The plaza is filled with people, music and kids with their firecrackers until late at night. Talking about the plaza you have to mention that our plaza (Plaza de Armas) is adorned with festive Christmas lights that put us in a cheerful mood every time we look out onto our balcony.

Another thing we love about Christmas is the food and drinks. Typical comida navideña includes lechón, pasteles, arroz con gandules and morcilla. As for dessert you should definitely try arroz con dulce, tembleque and flan.

We had our first taste of the Puerto Rican tradition “coquito” last year, when a friendly bartender mixed us one up. This one is of course not the only drink you can find at Christmas time, but it is for sure one of our favorites. Therefore we set out on a mission to find the best coquito in Old San Juan.

Our first coquito of the year was from a local jeweler’s wife, after we heard lots of raves about it, we got a bottle and what they said was true. Creamy, not too rich, just the right amount of spices and liquor. Christmas had begun…

Our next taste was at the Christmas party at the Sheraton hotel. This coquito, a lot lighter than the previous ones we had tried, was so delicious that you just wanted to keep on drinking.

We tried a few more before we found the next rival coquito at a New Year’s Eve house party, homemade by grandma and let’s face it grandmas always know how do to do the traditions best. Of course it was a secret recipe and unfortunately we left the party without getting the recipe.

After tasting many coquitos made by locals around Old San Juan we decided to taste test the restaurants of Old San Juan, stopping first at Aureola where a good friend works. Much to our dismay we found out technically restaurants are not allowed to sell coquito, but by chance encounter we met a friendly gentleman who informed us his wife made the best coquito. Intrigued we told him about our article, at which point he so generously got us a bottle form one of his restaurants. This was a twist on traditional coquito incorporating the customary ingredients with some extra kick by adding things such as frangelico. This too went on our favorites list, a nice twist on conventional with the right balance as not to have an overpowering taste of liquor.

While we didn’t accomplish our mission (of finding the best coquito in the old city) we did enjoy the season trying. We have come to the conclusion there are way too many good coquito’s to pick a number 1. We hope you enjoyed the holiday season as much as we did and have a wonderful new 2010.

Nina & Nora