Mad about Science: Eggnog

By Brenden Bobby
Reader Columnist

The holidays bring a unique struggle for everyone. My own challenge during this season is standing near the cold case at the grocery store and weighing the pros and cons of eggnog. Are the hours of indigestion — and the gut-churning pain of lactose intolerance and a potential egg allergy — worth the brief moments of a delicious sugary, eggy milkshake?

The answer is always a clear “yes,” but it is consistently spiced by regret.

Have you ever wondered about the origins of eggnog? Who decided to go full “Rocky Balboa” with a cup full of eggs, cold milk and spiced liquor?

Let’s take a look at the eggnog you find on the grocery store shelves today. Commercial eggnog has a number of requirements attached to its production and sale. FDA regulations state that eggnog cannot contain more than 1% of the product as eggs, meaning it’s more akin to an egg-flavored milkshake than traditional eggnog. The eggs also must be pasteurized, which means they were cooked to destroy potential pathogens from entering the final product and your digestive tract. It’s also often manufactured with high fructose corn syrup as an alternative to processed cane sugar. 

Take from all of that what you will, but no one drinks a sugary milkshake for the health benefits.

It’s also common practice to add alcohol to eggnog with bourbon being among the most frequent additions.

Alcohol and eggnog have a long history together. In an age before refrigeration, alcohol was necessary to make the drink palatable and keep for longer periods of time, which was much easier to do during the winter season depending on location and climate. The drink has roots as far back as the 1600s in an English dessert called “posset.” Posset is a form of curdled milk enriched with sugar and alcohol, often in the form of sherry or similar drinks. 

Various forms of posset were frequently prescribed to those suffering from maladies such as the cold or flu, which really cheapens the Jell-O that I was given as a kid when I stayed home sick from school.

Posset made frequent appearances throughout English history in the 1600s, having been prescribed to King Charles I in 1620 and even appearing several times throughout Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Unlike eggnog, posset was consumed hot, which sounds like a nightmarish experience if it shares a similar flavor profile to our favorite holiday drink.

Posset exists to this day, though the flavor and form has changed considerably to resemble something we Yanks would consider a pudding, but something closer to a custard across the pond. Nowadays, posset is often made with curdled milk, sugar and lemon, which to me sounds like cheesecake soup.

Eggnog as we know it began to take form more than a century later in the British North American colonies. Being far more spacious and agricultural than Britain during the 1700s, produce like eggs and milk were abundant in America. A different environment with colder winter temperatures also meant storing perishable items like curdled egg-milk was easier to do while also linking the drink directly to the holiday season. An abundance of rum from the Caribbean kept eggnog boozy with a spicy new flavor.

Following the American Revolution, George Washington famously shared his own personal eggnog recipe, though he failed to include the amount of eggs he used — a fact that leads one to wonder if the first U.S. president decided to sample his own supply before writing it down.

Washington’s recipe is as follows:

“One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, 1/2 pint rye whiskey, 1/2 pint Jamaica rum, 1/4 pint sherry — mix liquor first, then separate yolks and whites of eggs, add sugar to beaten yolks, mix well. Add milk and cream, slowly beating. Beat whites of eggs until stiff and fold slowly into mixture. Let set in cool place for several days. Taste frequently.”

Given the abundance of liquor, one could forgive the founding father for forgetting how many eggs he poured into what was essentially a vat of alcohol meringue. Most experts agree that around one dozen eggs is sufficient to replicate Washington’s recipe.

Eggnog is beloved as a comforting reminder of the holidays; but, given its nature as a vehicle for transporting booze, it also has some blemishes on its history. In 1826, the military academy of West Point in New York had completely barred access to any and all alcohol on the campus’ premises under the command of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. On Christmas morning 1826, a number of cadets took it upon themselves to smuggle in a sizable amount of liquor under the superintendent’s nose, spiking the holiday eggnog and triggering an event that would be known as the West Point Eggnog Riot of 1826.

This riot created a tremendous amount of damage at the campus and marred the reputation of the facility as well as Colonel Thayer for years to come. At least 30 cadets were expelled for their role in the riots and the damage they caused to the facilities.

As we near the end of this exploration into the eggiest of nogs, one may wonder what “nog” is, exactly. It is immediately recognizable, yet few other drinks seem to share its name. It’s likely that the etymological roots lie in “grog,” pointing to the booze that permeates everyone’s favorite holiday libation, but it could also be an old English name for the type of cup in which the drink used to be prepared and served — likely while it was still considered a posset.

Stay curious, 7B.