Eggnog gets a terrible rap, which I’m pretty sure comes from bad experiences people have had with store-bought eggnog as a kid. My mom loved it, my dad hated it, it looked like straight milk so I never tried it.
I didn’t have eggnog at all until 2 years ago when I has Sun Liquor’s eggnog at a friend’s house, and that was life-changelingly good (as advertised). I’ve also now had the Miracle version 2 years in a row, and those are also excellent. This convinced me that what’s missing from the store-bought stuff, aside from a certain level of craft, is definitely the booze.
I thought maybe that these would be really difficult to make, so the juice may not be worth the squeeze. But, after a bit of research and lots of drinking, I can now confirm that’s not the case. Make your own (boozy) eggnog, folks – it’s delicious.
Context
Eggnog, in the most base form, is just milk, cream, sugar, and eggs. Like a super-sweet protein shake. Interestingly, it’s a rare old drink that doesn’t appear to have a rich history in Europe and is instead mostly an invention of Americans and Canadians. It’s also, apparently, gotten extremely popular in South America.
There are about as many variations as there are bars, all with different names, but at this point the category is mostly generalized to ‘nog. As with just about all booze, the origins are fiercely debated by people who care to much and don’t drink enough. Entirely possible it was the natural evolution of putting an egg in your beer.
Making the Drink
From what I can tell, there’s generally an easy way and a hard way to make eggnog.The easy way is to throw everything in a shaker together and dry shake the hell out of it. The hard way to to beat everything separately to get more frothiness and homogenization than any amount of dry shaking will get you.
Since I run a cocktail blog, I tried both ways. But, regardless of the method, I used this ratio which is based on what Kenji has recommended over on Serious Eats. The recipe has the easy method attached because the hard one would never fit in Highball. Remember – don’t skip the nutmeg! It adds all of the nose of the drink.
The Easy Way
Literally just dump everything into a shaker and shake. Shake for a good long while, way longer than feels comfortable, and then dump the contents into a cold glass. Grate some nutmeg on top and enjoy!
The Hard Way
I won’t re-type everything in Kenji’s recipe, but here’s the gist:
Beat the egg whites by themselves. Once they start to thicken, add some sugar and keep beating until it’s shaving cream thick. Then, do the same with the yolk. Add the rest of the liquids to the yolk, beat to incorporate everything, and fold the egg whites on top of the drink. Grate some nutmeg on top and enjoy!
Tasting Notes
I was actually surprised at how much of a difference I tasted between these two prep methods. I don’t think, though, that one is objectively better than the other, so prep to your preference based on my thoughts.
The Easy Way
The flavors here are quite separate. You get blasted with creamy, sweet milk up front that immediately gives way to the alcohol which still has some burn on the finish. Though the dairy is quite heavy here, it’s similar to the way something like a Whiskey Sour is structured on the palate. Overall, it tastes like a true cocktail, though one that likely only works as a nightcap.
The Hard Way
The flavors here are much more homogeneous. The additional air whipped into the eggs allows the alcohol to bind with the proteins, so you don’t get the same distinct separation of flavors. The head is certainly much lighter and frothier, and that’s followed by a lighter sweet-booze liquid that’s extremely consistent. A lighter drink in every way that tastes more flavored by alcohol than actually alcoholic.
Riffs
There are endless ways to riff on this drink. Slight changes to the ratios will mean major changes to the finished product. Changing out the booze(s) altogether will change the profile significantly as well. Cut down on the dairy a bit and you’re pretty much just making a heavy flip, so riffs will likely trend in that direction.
Kenji has a full dozen riffs that he recommends here, and they all look solid. The Maple Bourbon, Lemon-Buttermilk, and the Coconut are all on my to-make list.