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.
The exact origins of eggnog are unknown. It has 13th-century English roots, developed into a beverage for aristocrats, and found its home as an essential Christmas drink in colonial America. Eggnog remains a popular co*cktail, and its story is as fascinating as the drink itself.
Eggnog became tied to the holidays when the drink hopped the pond in the 1700s. American colonies were full of farms—and chickens and cows—and cheaper rum, a soon-signature ingredient. Mexico adopted the very eggnog varietal “rompope,” and Puerto Rico enjoys the “coquito,” which adds coconut milk.
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.
Eggnog is made with a combination of eggs, milk or cream, and sugar. Generally, it's served cold, and it has a custard-like color and texture. Sometimes, bourbon or whiskey or rum is added, which might be one reason it gets broken out around the holidays.
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.
Throughout Canada, the United States and some European countries, eggnog is traditionally consumed over the Christmas season, from late October until the end of the holiday season.
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.
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.
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.
Britons brought the drink to America in the 18th century. Fortified wine, traditionally used to spike posset, was difficult to obtain, so Americans laced their version with bourbon, rum or whisky instead. Though eggnog is consumed in many English-speaking countries, Americans are the most keen on it.
A superintendent caught a couple of inebriated cadets partying together in the early hours of Christmas morning and ordered them to disperse and sober up. They responded instead by gathering their friends and launching into several hours of eggnog-fueled holiday chaos and destruction—now known as the eggnog riot.
Sugar's addictive properties have been studied, and ice cream mix used to make eggnog contains its fair share, both from the milk sugar lactose and from 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!
Is Eggnog Served Hot or Cold? Eggnog is traditionally served as a punch at parties, and as such, is usually chilled or room temperature. However, warmed eggnog is also a delightful treat. In this case, we say "to each your own!" Enjoy your eggnog however you like it.
Eggnog has been a traditional Christmas beverage for hundreds of years in America, but this country isn't the only one to partake in this festive beverage. Many places around the world have different types of eggnog, including: Æggekop in Denmark. Chilled camel's milk in the United Arab Emirates.
It is first attested in medieval England in the 14th century. Although the treat originated in Britain, the term eggnog first appeared in Britain's North American colonies—soon to be the United States—in 1775.
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