How to: make Eggnog, grog and the infamous Hot Toddy

There is arguably no other drink that brings to mind the images of Santa and his elves like Eggnog. But trying other holiday drinks like grog and Hot Toddys could inspire visions of sugarplums and gingerbread houses too.

To get in the holiday spirit, making these drinks at home may do the trick.

Eggnog

Originally an upper-class drink in England, Eggnog has become as much a part of Christmas lore as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

To make Eggnog, you’ll need:

12 eggs, separated

6 cups milk

2 cups heavy/ thickened cream

2 cups bourbon

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup of brandy

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

In a large bowl and using a mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for approximately 10 minutes (you want the mixture to be firm and the color of butter). Very slowly, add in the bourbon and brandy – just a little at a time. When bourbon and brandy have been added, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge (for up to six hours, depending on how long before you want to drink).

Thirty minutes before you want to drink, stir the milk into the chilled yolk mixture. Stir in one and a half teaspoons ground nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with a mixer on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture. After ladling into cups, garnish with the remainder of the ground nutmeg.

Serves: 8

It is basically the same thing as ice cream, but the amount of liquid is too much for the eggs to form into custard, and instead just makes the mixture thicker. Think of it as an alcoholic pudding that you can drink through a straw.

Grog

For those who don’t find such a rich, sweet drink appealing, there is another option for yuletide warmth and inebriation: Grog. Grog is a rum drink, which is probably most commonly associated with pirates, as in, “Arrr, a round a’ grog for me crew!”

The drink is made up of:

2 ounces of dark rum

2 ounces of water

2/3 of an ounce of lime juice

1 teaspoon of bbrown sugar

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

The best way to make it is to heat the water, lime juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan until the sugar melts and the cinnamon and cloves have had enough time to give their flavor to the fluid. There is no specific amount of time this should be done for, but the longer it steeps, the more it is going to taste like cinnamon and clove. After this is sufficiently done, add the rum and enjoy.

It should be noted that this drink is called Grog for a reason. Although the etymology of the name is uncertain, it is known to have the effect of making the drinker quite groggy.

Hot Toddy

There is also the Hot Toddy, a hot whiskey drink that was once used to treat the common cold — that is until the American Lung Association came along and made the claim that alcohol should be avoided in the treatment of the common cold because it causes dehydration.

To make a Hot Toddy:

1 ounce of brandy or whiskey

1 tablespoon of honey

1/4 of a lemon

1 cup of hot water and a teabag.

It is recommended to coat the bottom of the mug in the honey, and then add the whiskey and lemon. The tea should be made according to its own instructions, and then added to the mug. Hot apple cider can also be used instead of tea.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Seth Gitner at Seth.gitner@colorado.edu and Entertainment Editor Taylor Coughlin at Taylor.coughlin@colorado.edu.