Ethan Trex
Way More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Eggnog
by Ethan Trex - December 5, 2010 - 12:45 AM

There’s a good chance you’ll either drink too much eggnog this holiday season or have the bad luck of spending time around someone who has. Let’s take a look at the background of this December staple.

Eggnog can trace its roots back as far as the 14th century, when medieval Englishmen enjoyed a hot cocktail known as posset. Posset didn’t contain eggs – the Oxford English Dictionary describes it as “a drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or the like, often sweeten ed and spiced’ – but over the years eggs joined in on the festive fun.

While the egg-laden version of posset was popular with the English, it became less common as time went by. Milk and eggs were both scarce and expensive, and the sherry and Madeira used to spike the mixture was pricey, too. Over time, the concoction became a drink that only aristocrats could really afford.

All of that changed in the American colonies, though. What we lacked in parliamentary representation we made up for in easy access to dairy products and liquor. Since many Americans had their own chickens and dairy cattle, tossing together a glass of eggnog was no problem, and the drink’s popularity soared among the colonists even as it sagged back home.

This disparity in the drink’s popularity on either side of the pond endures to this day; eggnog’s popularity in the U.K. still lags far behind its holiday ubiquity here in the States. In fact, here’s how the Guardian’s Andrew Shanahan memorably described the drink in 2006: “People rarely get it right, but even if you do it still tastes horrible. The smell is like an omelette and the consistency defies belief. It lurches around the glass like partially-sentient sludge.” Appetizing!

Using Your Noggin

The word “eggnog” itself has fairly murky origins, but many etymologists think the name stems from the word “noggin,” which referred to small wooden mugs that were often used to serve this type of drink. Others propose a similar story but explain that the “nog” comes the Norfolk slang nog to refer to the strong ales that were often served in these cups. Still others think the name is a contraction of colonial Americans’ request to bartenders for an “egg-and-grog” when they wanted a glass.

Furthermore, while the drink itself may date back to medieval times, the word “eggnog” is a relatively recent invention. The first recorded instances of the use of “eggnog” only date back to the late 18th century, and by that time, bartenders in the young United States had already tweaked the recipe to give it a more American twist. The Madeira and sherry that English aristocrats had used for their version of eggnog were scarce on this side of the pond, but we had plenty of rum and whiskey. In 1800, author Isaac Weld, Jr. described the American recipe for eggnog as consisting of “new milk, eggs, rum, and sugar, beat up together.”

Have One for George Washington

Yes, early Americans loved their eggnog, and you can use this fact to your advantage if you down a few too many glasses this year. Simply point out that you’re in good company with the likes of George Washington. Kitchen records from Mount Vernon indicate that Washington served an eggnog-like drink to visitors, and since the general wasn’t strapped for cash, he didn’t skimp on the sauce. Washington’s potent recipe included three different types of booze: rye whiskey, rum, and sherry. Nobody could tell a lie after having a few cups of that.

Not everyone had Washington’s funds, though. A thorough look at historical recipes reveals that for most tipplers, the type of booze they snuck into their nog didn’t really matter as long as there was something to give it a little kick. In addition to rum, ale, whiskey, and wines, an 1879 collection of recipes from Virginia housewives features a recipe that calls for 12 eggs, eight wine-glassfuls of brandy, and four wine-glassfuls of wine. Another calls for three dozen eggs, half a gallon of domestic brandy, and another half-pint of French brandy. Something’s telling us these shindigs got a little wild.

You Might Not Want to Read the Label

If you pick up a carton of commercial eggnog at the supermarket, you’re probably getting much more nog than egg. FDA regulations only require that 1.0 percent of a product’s final weight be made up of egg yolk solids for it to bear the eggnog name. For “eggnog flavored milk,” the bar is even lower; in addition to requiring less butterfat in the recipe, this label only requires 0.5 percent egg yolk solids in the carton.

Of course, there are other good reasons why we don’t tip back eggnog year-round. Sure, nobody’s reaching for a nice cup of something custardy on a hot day, but it’s not very good for you at all. A relatively small four-ounce cup of store-bought eggnog boasts a whopping 170 calories (half of them from fat), nearly 10 grams of fat, and over 70 mg of cholesterol. (If you’re keeping score at home, that’s around a quarter of your recommended daily intake of cholesterol.)

If you choose to eschew these commercial brands in favor of mixing up your own eggnog, you’ll probably want to use pasteurized eggs to suppress the risk of a nasty case of salmonella; not even a playlist featuring “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” ruins a holiday party quite as quickly as making everyone in attendance violently ill. Don’t use unpasteurized eggs under the old argument of “the booze will kill the germs,” either. The FDA advises that this strategy isn’t likely to work.

An Unhealthy Obsession

Nutritional info aside, eggnog still has a strong following among holiday drinkers. It’s hard to top the devotion shared by a Virginia father and son in the late 19th century, though. In 1900, Good Housekeeping ran a story about the Christmas-morning eggnog traditions of Virginia, and it included this anecdote:

“So religiously is this custom of the eggnog drinking observed that Judge Garnett of Mathews County tells a story of rushing in on Christmas morning to warn his father that the house was on fire. The old gentleman first led his son to the breakfast table and ladled out his glass of eggnog, drank one with him, then went to care for the burning building.”

True or not, the story certainly underscores the downright magical powers of eggnog. Nobody’s braving a burning building to have a cup of fruit punch or spiced cider.

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Comments (46)

  1. Glad to see m_f is back… I used to like egg nog but haven’t for many years. It probably changed around the time I stopped liking eggs unless they were deviled or egg salad-style, which are pretty much the same thing, hah.

    I don’t like French toast for the egg coating either.

    posted by Sarah in CA on 12-5-2010 at 1:07 am

  2. one glass a Christmas season is plenty, and never the alcohol version. Something about alcohol and the milk+egg mixture turns my stomach every time.

    posted by Heather on 12-5-2010 at 2:51 am

  3. Why does everyone hate “Do They Know It’s Christmas” except me???

    posted by Jester on 12-5-2010 at 6:34 am

  4. Jester, even Bob Geldof hates the song

    posted by tom on 12-5-2010 at 7:55 am

  5. I’m with you, Heather, but took a slightly different turn. Now I forego the milk and egg mixture and simply have a glass of liquor. Merry Christmas!

    posted by Jim on 12-5-2010 at 8:44 am

  6. Jester, I like song, too.

    posted by Sarah in CA on 12-5-2010 at 10:17 am

  7. Rather, I like THAT song, too, ha. That’s what I get for trying to type around my cat in front of the keyboard.

    posted by Sarah in CA on 12-5-2010 at 10:18 am

  8. the soy vesion of egg nog by silk is a whole lot better for you and very tasty!

    posted by mary on 12-5-2010 at 11:16 am

  9. Excellent tip Mary. I love eggnog but have been avoiding the unhealthiness.
    Happy Holidays

    posted by Steve in KY on 12-5-2010 at 11:44 am

  10. Jester, not everyone hates it. Many just won’t admit it ;)
    I myself don’t deny it. If anything, it’s the music I like more than the lyrics, and can listen to just that.

    *loads “Do they know it’s Christmas” on mp3 player.*

    posted by Dawn on 12-5-2010 at 11:49 am

  11. I like eggnog better when you mix it with milk, it kind of gets rid of its thick texture.

    posted by sandandsnow25 on 12-5-2010 at 11:59 am

  12. Its not that you hate “Do they know it’s Christmas” its that its not a very cheerful Christmas song. I’m the only one I know who likes egg nog with or without alcohol. That being said, eggnog with alcohol never lasts very long….

    posted by Stephen on 12-5-2010 at 12:17 pm

  13. I’m with Sandandsnow25 on the eggnog-as-flavoring approach.

    posted by Elizabeth W on 12-5-2010 at 12:43 pm

  14. I like eggnog (again hold the liqour) but I actually have a recipe for eggnog custard which makes a really tasty flan with just an added cup of sugar for the caramel topping and I think 2 more eggs added to the nog. Yum!

    posted by Angela on 12-5-2010 at 12:55 pm

  15. Sorry, Mary, but the soy version of eggnog tastes like nothing more than flavored water. Bleh! :)

    posted by Tom F on 12-5-2010 at 1:11 pm

  16. I cannot drink eggnog, eat anything eggnog flavored, smell anything that even has a hint of it. Eggnog is the one thing I dread at Christmas time. Even the name makes my stomach turn over.

    posted by Eden on 12-5-2010 at 2:39 pm

  17. Ok, this is going to make me seem like a time traveler from the distant past, but I have vivid memories of making my own eggnog at home >routinely< in my youth (sans rum of course). Egg, milk, vanilla – blend together with one of those crank hand mixers (yes – I ate raw eggs). Bottoms up. Yum. I guess today's industrialized farms kind of stamped that practice out, but having backyard chickens has got me thinking…

    posted by Stevo on 12-5-2010 at 3:12 pm

  18. I love eggnog! My fiance made some from scratch with booze in it and it wasn’t as good as the carton stuff from the store. I hate eggs and am not a huge fan of milk either but during the Christmas season I have to fill up my ‘eggnog gland’ as someone put it. Where I lived in Missouri, there was also flavored seasonal milks-candy cane, red velvet, chocolate mint and pumpkin spice!

    posted by Leslie on 12-5-2010 at 3:38 pm

  19. Coming out of the Christmas Closet: I love eggnog AND “Do They Know It’s Christmas”! ;-) If you haven’t heard it, I suggest the Barenaked Ladies version rather than the original. Also, Eggnog in French is Lait de Poule, which translates to Chicken Milk! Always makes me giggle envisioning someone trying to milk a chicken…

    posted by rayvensmoon on 12-5-2010 at 3:43 pm

  20. I’ve heard that beating the egg and sugar together actually “cooks” the egg through some kind of reaction, thus making fresh eggnog not dangerous.

    Is this true? I’m pretty sure I got it from food network. (Is the tv lying to me??? gasp)

    posted by namecurious on 12-5-2010 at 4:03 pm

  21. Oh, but you didn’t tell me the one thing I want to know about eggnog…why does it taste like classic bubblegum to some people, myself included?

    posted by chandra on 12-5-2010 at 6:29 pm

  22. I use eggnog to make french toast for Christmas morning…very yummy! I also don’t mind “Do They Know It’s Christmas” but can understand the backlash.

    posted by Kati Allen on 12-5-2010 at 7:24 pm

  23. Great article, Ethan. I am addicted to eggnog, even though it is the worst possible drink for my high cholesterol. The only thing a hate is nutmeg, which some insist in polluting my eggnog with.

    posted by Eddie Deezen on 12-5-2010 at 8:07 pm

  24. Eddie: There’s such a thing a eggnog without nutmeg?

    I hate all Christmas music (yes ALL of it) but “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is definitely one of the worst. I mostly hate it because it’s basically asking if people who don’t celebrate Christmas realize how special the day is, when in reality we don’t f*cking care.

    posted by Sarah on 12-5-2010 at 10:13 pm

  25. its like somedy thought that mixing pancake batter with liquor would taste great

    posted by john q on 12-5-2010 at 11:11 pm

  26. I love both eggnog & “Do They Know It’s Christmas”…what other holiday tune features the Doctor Who theme?

    Have yourself a geeky little holiday season!

    posted by smirkette on 12-6-2010 at 1:41 am

  27. I’ve never gotten up the nerve to try eggnog. I’m always semi scared of eating eggs cuz my mom never mastered the clean crack. There were always shells to crunch into when eggs aren’t supposed to b crunchy. Kinda turned me away from anything egg

    posted by Fate on 12-6-2010 at 1:55 am

  28. Everyone ego-surfs, right?

    posted by The Guardian's Andrew Shanahan on 12-6-2010 at 4:46 am

  29. @Stevo, we used the same recipe for home-made eggnog. Sometimes my mom would add a dash of angostura bitters, but otherwise it was the same. Not NEARLY as thick and tasted more like a vanilla milkshake than “nog”.

    On the topic of raw eggs, some cooking experts (Food Network, I’m looking at you!) will say that the risk of salmonella is relatively low, other sources (like this article)seem to think that raw eggs are second only to plutonium in their lethality.

    Does anyone have any REAL knowledge on the subject? How risky are they?

    posted by TBV on 12-6-2010 at 10:26 am

  30. I hate eggnog and love “Do They Know it’s Christmas”. Maybe that makes me not a “real American”.

    posted by Megan on 12-6-2010 at 10:54 am

  31. The National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) performed a risk analysis on eating raw eggs earlier this decade. They have this to say about Salmonella: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12022671?dopt=Abstract)

    “…baseline model estimates an average production of 2.3 million SE-contaminated shell eggs/year of the estimated 69 billion produced annually and predicts an average of 661,633, human illnesses per year from consumption of these eggs. The model estimates approximately 94% of these cases recover without medical care, 5% visit a physician, an additional 0.5% are hospitalized, and 0.05% result in death.”

    (Cliffnote version: even cooked eggs can make you sick, but your odds are against it)

    posted by Egg-nog-head on 12-6-2010 at 11:09 am

  32. @Sarah: “Do They Know it’s Christmas” is not, as you put it “basically asking if people who don’t celebrate Christmas realize how special the day is.”

    That song was written by Bob Geldof, and recorded by Band Aid in the 80′s, to raise awareness about famine conditions in Africa. It was also supposed to help raise money to send the people food and medical supplies. Whether that objective was actually accomplished, I can’t say, but that was the intention. If you listen to the lyrics, it’s very clear.

    I agree it’s not a very good song, and I cringe when I hear it now. But back in the day, it meant something.

    posted by Carole on 12-6-2010 at 12:00 pm

  33. As for eggnog, I prefer the store-bought version, no alcohol, and I can only drink one or two glasses at Christmas. I have my fill and I’m done.

    posted by Carole on 12-6-2010 at 12:02 pm

  34. Whenever we’d get a quart of eggnog my Dad would immediately drink half of it right out of the carton then refill it with milk, give it a shake and replace it in the frig. I was 16 when I had my first “real” eggnog. I was surprised at how thick it was. I still cut it with milk today.

    posted by lewen on 12-6-2010 at 1:41 pm

  35. @ Kati Allen–despite my love for both eggnog AND French Toast, I have never thought to use the nog as the batter for toast!!! Now I am attempting to figure out how to get off work early so I can try this out!!! Thanks a million!!!

    posted by Megaroo on 12-6-2010 at 2:01 pm

  36. I have been using shelled pasteurize­d eggs for a few years now, especially with the holiday season in full bloom, I’m using more than ever. I think that until there either is a proven technologi­cal method to test for salmonella­, you should look into using pasteurize­d eggs. I mean with all these recent egg recalls and food safety bills, it seems that pasteurize­d eggs are the current solution. So if your are attempting to make homemade eggnog, or anything egg-based this holiday season, try using pasteurized eggs.

    posted by mmmhealthyfood on 12-6-2010 at 3:06 pm

  37. Don’t base your nog opinions on the store bought stuff! While I love homemade and store bought nog, they barely resemble each other. Store nog has a very distinct flavor that doesn’t taste like anything else, and is super thick. It’s like grape Popsicles: they taste like grape flavoring, not real grapes. Store nog tastes like someones idea of an “eggnog” flavoring. The homemade stuff is way better. Tastes more like a drinkable, alcoholic custard or pudding. Doesn’t have a slimy consistency whatsoever

    posted by Tommy on 12-6-2010 at 3:25 pm

  38. “Do They Know it’s Christmas” is not my favorite Christmas song. Not by a long shot. But as a pop song, it’s way, WAY better than “We are the World”, but not as good as “Sun City.”

    So I’d rate it in the middle of the scale of ‘altruisti-pop’.

    posted by TBV on 12-6-2010 at 4:05 pm

  39. I only like “Do They Know it’s Christmas” so I can hear Bono screech “Well tonight thank God it’s them – instead of yoooooouuuu…” Otherwise it’s too much Paul Young, and not enough everybody else.

    posted by Dinosaur1972 on 12-6-2010 at 4:52 pm

  40. @ Sarah

    Jeez!! Listen to the lyrics and relax. The song is about people starving in Africa while we are all enjoying plenty and encouraging people to feed the world.

    posted by Richard on 12-14-2010 at 11:03 am

  41. my father-in-law makes his own eggnog routinely, complete with Kentucky bourbon. It is not just a Christmas drink it that family, he fixes it at New Years, Thanksgiving, Easter, Mother’s day, whenever he can find a reason. Thank goodness it is strong enough on the bourbon to hide the raw eggs

    posted by Maranda on 12-14-2010 at 6:00 pm

  42. Love eggnog. Bought the soy version one year with great intentions. Had 1/2 a cup and went back out and got a quart of the real thing. I figure that since I rarely eat eggs or use cream, the couple of servings a year of nog that I relish isn’t going to kill me.

    Find “Do They Know It’s Christmas” a bit self serving…Kum-ba-yah instead of sustainable assistance.

    Anyone know if the royalties are still funneled to charity? I’m a cynic.

    posted by pearl on 12-15-2010 at 8:50 pm

  43. I don’t like the eggnog from the dairy case, but I LOVE the Evan Williams eggnog with bourbon already in it. It’s like drinking dessert!

    posted by Julie on 12-21-2010 at 4:48 pm

  44. You have a valid point, pearl. It would be interesting to know if the royalties are still going to charity.
    The song ahs be re-recorded several times, in many languages, and has been parodied as well, according to the Wikipedia artice:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_They_Know_It%27s_Christmas%3F

    posted by Carole on 12-22-2010 at 4:32 pm

  45. ”Do They Know It’s Xmas” is a great 80′s xmas song, so much better than ”Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney, who I idolize.

    posted by burt on 12-25-2010 at 6:46 pm

  46. I enjoy making homemade eggnog. I make a cooked vanilla bean custard base, and fold in freshly whipped cream. To lighten it’s texture, so it doesn’t seem so thick & heavy, I have whipped the custard based in the blender to help it cool, and that adds air to it. Everyone who’s had it thinks I made a ‘lighter’ recipe, saying it isn’t too rich, but end up drinking 3 times as much as they would without my whipping the custard.
    IMO, eggnog should be thick, so when someone wants to add liquor to it, the eggnog doesn’t turn watery. To me, it is a dessert in a glass.

    posted by Anna on 1-1-2011 at 2:55 am

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