MetaEggnog 🥛🥚🎄

December 6, 2019 7:20 AM

End of another long week, let's talk about something other than politics. Many of us are coming up on winter holiday celebrations. One of the more traditional drinks consumed here in N. America is eggnog. Let's talk nog. Love it? Hate it? Do you make it yourself? Do you have a special family recipe? Do you buy the store-bought kind? Is there a particular brand or flavor you prefer? Do you add alochol to yours? Do you have any amusing/horrific stories related to eggnog? Did you know that eggnog once sparked a military riot (known as the 'Grog Mutiny') at West Point! Feel free to talk about any other holiday drinks you consume around this time of year. Or what you're currently drinking in this moment. It's an open thread. As always, be kind to yourself and to others. Cheers.
posted by Fizz to MetaFilter-Related at 7:20 AM (67 comments total)

Also, feel free to discuss Greg Nog. They're pretty awesome.
posted by Fizz at 7:21 AM on December 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

Mr. eirias and I put (unspiked) eggnog in our coffee from roughly Thanksgiving through Christmas. It’s the best. Little eirias always makes a face. 🤢
posted by eirias at 7:30 AM on December 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Love it. Nog nog nog. Trader Joe's has an eggnog-flavored Greek yogurt, which is very nice, except for the time I opened one and there was a hair inside which was not mine.

I have never made eggnog; I adore the non-alcoholic Southern Comfort Vanilla Spice variety.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:32 AM on December 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

(I should probably add that I just bought more of the yogurt. It was fine.)
posted by Countess Elena at 7:34 AM on December 6, 2019

To this day, I have no idea what it even is
posted by thelonius at 7:46 AM on December 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

I always avoided eggnog. I tried it once when I was very 10 or 11 and something about the consistency/taste just didn't sit right with me. That being said, I decided to give it a small chance and last week I sampled some and my gag reflex did not kick in. I only had a small shot glass worth.

I am not sure I could handle much more, but in a small dose like that, to just have something to sip on after dinner in front of a fireplace, I'm ok with it now. My wife is entirely responsible for this turn around. She's a big fan of eggnog and so I wanted to have an open mind about it, hence my trying it after so many years.
posted by Fizz at 7:50 AM on December 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

I hate drinking egg nog, but I find it bakes up into a pretty tasty pie.
posted by PearlRose at 7:57 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Nog season is the best, but too few folks outside of the great lakes region (I assume, tbh I only ever hear about it from fellow Western New Yorkers or Minnesotans and Wisconsinites) are familiar with the Tom and Jerry. It's next level nogging. Recipe.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:59 AM on December 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

I don't like it. No sir-ee bob.
posted by bondcliff at 8:05 AM on December 6, 2019

We never had it at all in my family growing up because it was seen as an alcohol delivery system and the people in my family who drink think it's a waste to add non-alcohol to an alcoholic drink (I was in this camp) and the people who don't drink don't see the point of drinking it without spiking (I'm now in this camp). I don't know anybody who drinks sour mix without alcohol and eggnog seems similar to me.

I feel like eggnog exists on pure nostalgia for something in the past that I don't understand or know about. That's definitely how it works for my in-laws. None of them like it but they have it every Christmas because it's "what you do."
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:08 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm a fan. I especially like Alton Brown's eggnog recipe, which is an uncooked egg nog (pasteurized eggs, please!) made with whipped egg whites folded in just before serving. It's light and airy, very different from the thick custard texture of most egg nog.

If your grocery store doesn't have pasteurized eggs available, you can make them at home in a few minutes. It's easier with a sous video device than using a thermometer to gauge the temperature, but not too difficult either way. Using a lot of water helps make it easier to keep the temperature in the desired range.
posted by jedicus at 8:13 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Hate it. I'll take my eggs scrambled or fried or omeletted or hard/soft-boiled the way the good lord intended, thank you very much.

Husband LOOOOOOVVVEEEESSSSS it. So we buy it for him.

All y'all eggnog lovers, you do you.
posted by cooker girl at 8:14 AM on December 6, 2019

I love it. a lot. I can't eat dairy, even with the lactase pills. Eggnog over crushed ice with Kahlua is really delicious; my nephew charmingly made me some with soynog and it was Nope. Almond nog is passable, would be better with real egg. It is and should be thick, if you are uneasy with that, try it on crushed ice. That Tom & Jerry recipe looks worth trying with almond milk and maybe coconut oil. The non-dairy nogs all try to be reduced fat, with predictably poor and sugary results.

It is an excellent delivery system for coffee brandy, whiskey, rum, Not all at once in case anyone is foolish. I'd like to try it with Scotch. Being dairy-free sucks, esp. at holidays.
posted by theora55 at 8:34 AM on December 6, 2019

It's not a tradition for my family; neither is mulled wine or Tom and Jerrys, or any other drink I can think of as holiday-themed. The closest would be hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. I like eggnog in small amounts, but it's not anything i'd buy myself.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 8:36 AM on December 6, 2019

I've never developed much of a taste for eggnog, but my college roommate somehow scored something like half a dozen half-gallon cartons of eggnog at the supermarket in the middle of the summer (I have no idea why the supermarket had eggnog in July, but they were probably clearing out some inventory) and he drank it every day until he had polished off the entire six cartons (no booze, just nog).
posted by briank at 8:37 AM on December 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

I made an aged eggnog in 2013 and kept it until last year when I tossed it because I was the only person who would drink it and I don't like to drink too much liquor (it is very very boozy!) and that makes me sad.
posted by vespabelle at 8:38 AM on December 6, 2019

Big Nog Fan!

This year I'm going to try to make Coquito, after hearing about it on Every Little Thing last year. I have my ingredients and will be whipping up a batch this weekend!
posted by jazon at 8:40 AM on December 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

My mother was fully on board with the mid-90s "raw eggs will kill everything you love" panic and so stuff like egg nog and cookie dough ice cream were completely off limits to us (even the pasteurized store bought stuff). Because of that, I think I've only had it maybe a handful of times? Maybe I'll make some this evening and report back.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:22 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do not like.

DO like mulled wine so please give me some of that please (last December I had 11 people drinking mulled wine in my bachelor apartment one afternoon, much hilarity ensued, something like 7 bottles of wine were mulled).
posted by wellred at 9:34 AM on December 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

no thanks, nope. I am a mulled cider kind of person, with applejack or bourbon. fills the house with the smell of cinnamon and cloves, tastes good, and has no eggs nor nogs, whatever they are.

I am accepting comfort from whoever may feel able to offer it, I just found out my 13 yo maine coon fluff buddy has a mass in his spine and that's why his back leg doesn't work anymore and also why he is having poop troubles. time to make him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible and then introduce my four year old child to how it feels to say goodbye.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:35 AM on December 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

THE EGGNOG AT WILSON FARMS IN LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS IS THE BEST EGGNOG ON THE PLANET, NO QUESTION.
posted by Melismata at 10:03 AM on December 6, 2019

I really like egg nog, but never go out of my way to drink it, and probably haven't had any for years. Boozed nog is best nog. Now I kind of want some.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:12 AM on December 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Like most things, it's fine if you add enough rum.
posted by some loser at 10:29 AM on December 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

I’ve been treating everyone really badly and making them work on xmas day in the hope of attracting one of those time-travelling ghosts to take me on a tour of my past misdeeds so I can duck out sometime before the mid-nineties and get me some Becker’s Eggnog. Nog just isn’t the same these days.
posted by rodlymight at 10:32 AM on December 6, 2019

Lawn Beaver, I'm so very sorry to hear that. (My best friends have always had Maine Coon cats and they are in my experience a particularly gregarious, loveable breed.) That's a really tough decision to have to make, especially with a small child in the mix, especially at the holidays. Hope you still have as much quality time as possible with your buddy.
posted by Kat Allison at 10:32 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also, this weekend I'll be drinking eggnog aplenty while helping my friends decorate their tree, with the invaluable assistance of two very active, very interested, 20+ lb. floofs.
posted by Kat Allison at 10:34 AM on December 6, 2019

My wife and I made this "Baltimore Egg Nog" for a party years ago and damn folks, it was really good.
posted by saladin at 10:38 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Glogi is the eggnog replacement in Nordics - warmed red wine with crushed nuts and raisins and a spice mixture
posted by Mrs Potato at 10:46 AM on December 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

This year I'm going to try to make Coquito, after hearing about it on Every Little Thing last year. I have my ingredients and will be whipping up a batch this weekend!

Coquito is fucking delicious. I got introduced to it at my husband's cousin's wedding where the reception didn't have a liquor license so there were two or three uncles that rolled up with their car trunks just fucking filled with Don Q and wine and mixers, and coquito was one of the drinks offered. That was a good wedding.

I have a bottle of glogg on my liquor cabinet. It's somehow not alcoholic and probably . . . not good, but I might crack it open on the first subzero day.
posted by dinty_moore at 10:50 AM on December 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

I am so lactose intolerant that the very thought of eggnog gives me a stomach ache. I am sure it is delicious, but I will stick with mulled wine or cider.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:47 AM on December 6, 2019

dinty_moore, merlot goes well with what you probably have, just warm them up together half/half
posted by Mrs Potato at 11:49 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

This season is when I miss the Northern hemisphere the most; I miss winter, I miss snow, I have joyous memories of my Canadian childhood. I’m loving the stories here. Once again, probably next week, I’ll make a double batch of nog, and make cupcakes with half.
posted by lemon_icing at 11:59 AM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Another eggnog hater here. I will do mulled wine though. but only if I'm outside in the cold.
posted by biggreenplant at 12:08 PM on December 6, 2019

Glogi is the eggnog replacement in Nordics - warmed red wine with crushed nuts and raisins and a spice mixture

This sounds like everything I've ever wanted. I am going to be discussing this with my wife tonight, because fuck yes, this sounds so yummy.
posted by Fizz at 12:54 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

non alcoholic Kashmiri variation - i got some for potato for xmas from India and he's enjoyed it without milk or sugar
posted by Mrs Potato at 1:07 PM on December 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

A friend gave me a quart of boozy eggnog intended for aging (so at least 40 proof for safety) and told me not to open it until Thanksgiving and it is nigh on undrinkable even cut 1:1 with non-alcoholic nog. Seeking suggestions to salvage it - it seems fine except for tasting like straight firey hooch.

I generally like eggnog, including an extremely thick, whipped-cream- and bourbon-heavy concoction my friend's dad makes.
posted by momus_window at 1:12 PM on December 6, 2019

glogi recipe
posted by Mrs Potato at 1:14 PM on December 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

I'm in Britain, and eggnog is hard to find here! I miss it. You can jazz up storebought nog by grating a little fresh nutmeg into it. If I add booze, it's Amaretto.

But it's easy to find mulled wine and mulled cider here. (Hard cider, of course-- but mulling removes a lot of the alcohol, which is usually only around 6 or 7 percent anyway). Outdoor markets sell it; theatres sell it at intermission; pubs keep a cauldron going. When I mull something at home, the spicy scent perfuming the whole house is the best part.

Still haven't tried homemade eggnog, though.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:03 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I was introduced to eggnog at work (shhhh don't tell anyone!) and I've loved it for years now. The only way I'm used to drinking it: drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass; pour cherry brandy to your desired amount (depends on the size of the glass); then fill the glass with eggnog. Tastes like chocolate covered cherries, to me, and I love it.

Also: use eggnog in place of milk when making French Toast. MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
posted by annieb at 2:41 PM on December 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

On the last day of the fall semester for my college script-reading class we had an informal party, where the professor introduced us to the joys of eggnog liberally dosed with Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur). I don't generally enjoy hazelnut-flavored things, but that was yummy.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:05 PM on December 6, 2019

Speaking of Greg Nog and eggnog, Lil Friendys was delightful.

I still wish Xharl were my pet.
posted by Laetiporus at 3:19 PM on December 6, 2019

I no longer drink egg nog for reasons of lactose intolerance, so now I drink Advocaat during the holidays.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:28 PM on December 6, 2019

Eggnog is tasty.

In unrelated but very happy news, my older kid got into her first choice college with a scholarship! Wow! So proud.
posted by cheapskatebay at 4:54 PM on December 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

Lawn Beaver, I’m so sorry for you and your furry friend. I’ll raise a glass of mulled beverage to you.
posted by eirias at 5:51 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I don't like the texture of most eggnogs (too thick, weird foam), but Alton Brown's Aged Eggnog (different from the other AB recipe above!) is amazing. The only problem is you have to remember to make it at least a month before you want to drink it.
posted by Weeping_angel at 5:59 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I once made two gallons of "aged" eggnog (can't recall whether it was for 1 or 2 months; this was back in the 80's), half with no alcohol and half with a lot of rum in it. At the time I had access to good high-quality fresh eggs from a neighbor, which I'm sure improved the outcome. Both regular and high-test were extremely popular at the family's Christmas get-together that year. I can't recall why I didn't keep that up; maybe because although it was really delicious, my interest in consuming eggnog is limited to pretty small and occasional amounts.

On a related/unrelated note, I recently learned that Bailey's Irish Cream stoutly fortified with decent Irish whiskey is also pretty tasty...though I can see my interest in that being similarly finite in the long run.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:55 PM on December 6, 2019

Another lactose intolerant egg nog lover here. I can drink the Lactaid egg nog but if I don't buy it early I won't get it. It is already sold out of stores here.

This year we were feeling adventurous so we made Alton Brown's aged egg nog referenced by Weeping_angel. It had been sitting in the fridge for a month now. I'm going to have to take a boatload of lactase pills but I expect it to be worth it.
posted by Nolechick11 at 8:01 PM on December 6, 2019

Yesssss! As seen in my Mltshp post there, Egg Nog Season starts in these (New Mexico) parts in late September! The only place it's available sooner might be Costco, which stocked its alcoholic egg nog maybe in mid September? I didn't see it there this year, which is probably for the best, because I'm the only one who drinks it in our house.

My wife hates it, but she loves me, so I enjoy it in moderation for months. Then my parents-in-law went and got a sous vide machine, and her dad happily told us "we can use it to make egg nog!" I still haven't taken them up on that offer, but I may get the craving in a few months, after the last of the store bought egg nog runs out.

Or I'll try other recipes from this thread (thanks, everyone!).


annieb: Also: use eggnog in place of milk when making French Toast. MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

And easiest French Toast! Slightly dry bread + egg nog + pan frying = easy, tasty French Toast.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:29 PM on December 6, 2019

Boiled custard thinned with orange juice instead of eggnog, go ahead and put some bourbon in it if you’re feeling spicy
posted by oomny at 9:23 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I loooooooove eggnog. I don’t think I’ve ever had homemade nog but I love every possible variety of store bought. I could drink infinite quantities of it - I have never had the “eggnog is so rich I can only take a few ounces” experience.
posted by obfuscation at 5:10 AM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Egg nog is good, and as a kid I could have drowned myself in it, but as an adult I’ve become more picky. I’ve only had the opportunity to try one homemade version, and it had scrambled eggs on top, so I skipped it. And so many commercial versions have HFCS in them, which I can taste in my dairy beverages even though it doesn’t bother me in any other application. So now I get just a few glasses a year. I prefer it nonalcoholic, but I’ll share a bit of my husband’s on occasion. Also, the lactaid version has HFCS but is really delicious.

We are making a coquito latte this year at work (with rum extract instead of the good stuff) which prompted a customer to sneak in a mason jar of her real, homemade, delicious boozy coquito for us to try. It was. FANTASTIC. But I could only have a tiny sip since I’m pregnant so now I’m sad.
posted by Night_owl at 6:00 AM on December 7, 2019

Seems like the Publix near me has egg nog ice cream.

Road trip!
posted by Splunge at 8:46 AM on December 7, 2019

There's something in some (but not all) storebought eggnogs that tastes like bubblegum flavor to me. Anybody else have this?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:58 AM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

That sounds terrible, LR, and I’m so glad I’ve never experienced it.
posted by obfuscation at 9:03 AM on December 7, 2019

Must. Resist. Fuckton of Egg Nog Sockpuppet. Must. Resist...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:37 AM on December 7, 2019 [3 favorites]

I just bought the first carton of my annual Organic Valley eggnog.

Eggnog is a vice for me.
posted by jgirl at 10:46 AM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

I like it, because I love nutmeg and have positive memories of a friend who made glorious nog from scratch. But what I REALLY like is coquito, courtesy of a former coworker who is a Puerto Rican foodie and sells people jugs of the stuff in December.
posted by centrifugal at 2:19 PM on December 7, 2019

I finished my Hanukkah shopping yesterday! I won't know until tomorrow if I need to buy Christmas gifts for my cousin's Littles, but I've got them picked out.

Around one a.m. last night, I went out to the porch for a smoke. I heard the bonus cat's bowl rattling on the stoop, so I turned on the light on my phone and shined it out the screen to see if she needed more food. Staring back at me, frozen, was... a gray and white cat, like my bonus cat, but twice the size. "What? Hey there, you're not Ruby. Are you?" I said out loud to the cat, because it was dark and I wasn't wearing my glasses and Ruby would definitely answer me. In response, the cat turned tail, the existence of said tail providing my answer as Ruby is a Japanese Bobtail, and sauntered down my driveway and into the neighborhood. Who are you, big catto, and how long have I been feeding you? Is this why I'm going through cat food so fast? Have I become the neighborhood cat lady? I mean, that's cool, it means I've achieved something ahead of schedule! Just, don't tell the mister, ok? Or the dog. They wouldn't approve.

In other bonus cat news, three times now, Ruby has brought friends with her for dinner - a doe and a buck! I'll hear her calling, go outside, and she'll be waiting at the stoop while the deer pair just stand in the middle of my front lawn. The deer and I look at each other as she eats, and when she's done, they go off together to do whatever a doe, buck, and bunny-tailed cat do.

I love living next to the woods.
posted by Ruki at 3:22 PM on December 7, 2019 [4 favorites]

Locally, I have become The Person Who Brings The Eggnog to holiday parties and other special occasions. Where I live now, December is summer. Eggnog is thus entirely inappropriate. NOBODY CARES because it is so yummy and fluffy.

I pretty much use the Cyril K. Collins recipe except that I substitute brandy for half the rum.
posted by inexorably_forward at 10:01 PM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'll tell you -- two gallons of egg nog is a fuckton of egg nog if you aren't hosting any parties.

Yeah, that's crazy, who would drink that much?

OK, we drink a LOT of eggnog, and my wife laments the passing of eggnog season. There's very little talk about Thanksgiving or Christmas around here, it's just Nog Season.

It never occurs to me that people put alcohol in it. I've never been around people who drank it with alcohol.
posted by bongo_x at 1:43 AM on December 8, 2019

If you are lucky enough to find Homestead Creamery eggnog in your stores, grab a bottle and try it; highly recommended!
posted by gudrun at 11:51 AM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

I just listened to the recent Dollop episode about Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a sea captain for the Dutch East India Company, and the atrocities committed in the name of bringing nutmeg back to Europe and my feelings about egg nog are decidedly more mixed. It’s a fine delivery mechanism for alcohol and a nice change from tonic or vermouth or whatever. Whiskey or brandy or both, never rum.

My wife’s office Xmas party was this weekend and this year we hosted. Every year, there’s a woman, long since retired but she still comes bearing this giant copper cauldron of homemade nog. Always fashionably late because her entrance is met with cheers for the nog. Seriously, people bring big mason jars to take some home and there’s always plenty. It’s a really sweet tradition.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:42 PM on December 8, 2019 [4 favorites]

It is a Puerto Rican holiday tradition to make vastly more coquito than you could possibly consume yourself, with the intent of giving it to others, but without any particular plan for whom you'll give it to and, subsequently, how you might limit the amount you make to suit the number of intended recipients, because that number is unknown in the first place. In practice this results in, one: your coquito being delivered along spidering chains of acquaintances that ordinarily even juicy gossip might not cross; and, two, your drinking an inadvisable amount of your own coquito for a really long time. Both of these are successful outcomes.
posted by invitapriore at 5:06 PM on December 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

Mingus' eggnog recipe
posted by From Bklyn at 2:50 AM on December 11, 2019

Every year during the month of December, I buy eggnog instead of milk. I have a glass of eggnog and buttered homemade Christmas bread every morning for breakfast.

I regret nothing.
posted by orange swan at 4:57 PM on December 11, 2019 [4 favorites]

> momus_window: "boozy eggnog intended for aging (so at least 40 proof for safety) ... nigh on undrinkable even cut 1:1 with non-alcoholic nog. Seeking suggestions to salvage it" Crushed ice. You get the flavor, and it starts out all creamy, but the ice melts and it becomes a pleasant drink. Maybe even use the blender.

Also, some guy on Lifehacker recommends adding tequila to eggnog. I have some almond nog and feel that research is indicated.
posted by theora55 at 8:24 PM on December 11, 2019

Just found my little brother is also on duty on December 23 and December 26, so he is not going to be able to fly home for Christmas (after not being able to come to family Thanksgiving because of the Army too). Bah. Humbug.
posted by ChuraChura at 11:16 AM on December 12, 2019