The Uniquely American History of Eggnog, Everyone's Favorite—or Least Favorite—Holiday Quaff (2024)
In early 1815, distinguished representatives from the United States and Britain gathered in Belgium to ratify the treaty that ended the War of 1812. To celebrate the success of the peace talks, Massachusetts’ Pittsfield Sun reported, President James Madison’s stepson and secretary, John Payne Todd, “invited some gentlemen from his country and some others, to partake of a liquor with which the Americans used to treat their friends on Christmas Day.” That drink was already an American staple: eggnog.
The creamy, spiced beverage is believed to have originated in medieval Britain as “posset,” a comforting mixture of hot milk or cream, wine or ale, and spices. In the 13th century, some monks even began adding whipped eggs and figs to their possets—but the scarcity of the more expensive ingredients, including eggs and sherry, made this proto-eggnog a luxury reserved mainly for the British elite.
When the beloved drink crossed continents to North America in the mid-1700s, it became known as “egg-n-grog,” a term derived from the Scottish and Gaelic word noggin, which means cup, and grog, an English term for hard booze, often rum. The American colonists soon shortened that to “eggnog,” a term that first appeared in a poem by Maryland minister Jonathan Boucher around 1774.
George Washington was known to serve his own version to guests at Mount Vernon. The drink even once sparked a riot at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1826, when campus staff intervened after cadets, possibly including a young Jefferson Davis, served eggnog at a boisterous Christmas party despite the school’s ban on alcohol. The drink’s wintry spices, and the preference for serving it hot, made nog a Yuletide mainstay.
As milk, eggs, sugar and rum became more affordable and abundant, eggnog became accessible to everyday Americans. Today, people around the world enjoy it, often putting regional spins on the recipe. Versions include Puerto Rican coquito, which contains coconut milk or cream, and Mexican rompope, which uses egg yolks and a few pinches of baking soda.
Despite its origins, eggnog has not always been widely loved in Britain. One contributor to its decline there is another hot beverage—tea, which took the country by storm in the 17th century, when the East India Company began importing it in large quantities. And while eggnog isn’t universally loved in the U.S.—some Americans loathe it—we nonetheless consume more than 15 million gallons of eggnog annually. That works out to around 240 million cups of eggnog each year—enough to ensure that every adult American can enjoy a seasonal tipple.
Egg nog in colonial America was made with rum traded from the Caribbean Islands as it was less expensive than most liquors shipped from England. This rich brew evolved into the essential holiday drink across the colonies, and each area made a version of the drink unique to the region.
In places in the American colonies where even bourbon was too expensive, homemade moonshine spirits were added to eggnog. Eggnog "became tied to the holidays" when it was adopted in the United States in the 1700s. Eggnog "seems to have been popular on both sides of the Atlantic" in the 18th century.
The custom of toasting to the new season with this festive co*cktail actually began during Britain's early medieval years, and the drink later became popular in the American colonies by the 19th century. However, per TIME, eggnog has been associated with Christmas since the 1700s.
It was thought that the use of “luxury” ingredients such as cream and alcohol would invite prosperity into the household for the coming year. In most households today, a cup of eggnog ushers in the good cheer of the holiday more so than any belief in impending wealth.
The drink's wintry spices, and the preference for serving it hot, made nog a Yuletide mainstay. As milk, eggs, sugar and rum became more affordable and abundant, eggnog became accessible to everyday Americans. Today, people around the world enjoy it, often putting regional spins on the recipe.
While culinary historians debate its exact lineage, most agree eggnog originated from the early medieval Britain “posset,” a hot, milky, ale-like drink. By the 13th century, monks were known to drink a posset with eggs and figs.
Most plants keep producing eggnog through New Year's, and start dumping their unsold product in January. Although associated with the holidays, eggnog doesn't need to be seasonal. Dairy plants could produce small batches of eggnog off-season for hard-core nogheads, but they don't because it's not cost-effective.
(What's the difference between eggnog and Holiday Nog? Eggnog must have a minimum 6 percent butterfat and a minimum 1 percent egg yolk by weight; Holiday Nog, which Spangler called a flavored milk product, has 2 percent butterfat and less than 1 percent egg yolk by weight.)
The drink is traditionally made with eggs—of course—as well as whole milk, heavy whipping cream, sugar and nutmeg. Some eggnog recipes also call for a bit of vanilla extract or cinnamon. Strand says that using real eggs, rather than an eggnog mix, makes an enormous difference in taste and texture.
Traditionally made with eggs, cream, milk, and sugar, no one would say that eggnog is a healthy drink. Even a small serving can pack significant amounts of calories, fat, saturated fat, and added sugars.
It's not the texture of eggnog that bothers you so much as it is the raw egg bit. (For all those fellow eggnog lovers out there who have lived blissfully unaware their fav drink does, in fact, involve raw eggs, it's fine!
The etymology of the word eggnog has old English origins, with “nog” meaning either a strong beer or a wooden cup. The word eggnog seems to derive from both these meanings with the presence of eggs and its strong, alcoholic ingredients.
The eggnog riot, sometimes known as the grog mutiny, was a riot that took place at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, on 24–25 December 1826. It was caused by a drunken Christmas party in the north barracks of the academy.
Eggnog is traditionally made with eggs, egg yolk, sugar, milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract. It's often spiked with brandy, rum or other liquor, and topped with freshly grated nutmeg and/or cinnamon sticks.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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