Tom Blank of Weird History Food looks at the long, sometimes misunderstood etymological origins of eggnog and how it became an ongoing holiday tradition.
Eggnog has been around a lot longer than most would think and is often associated with Holiday Parties and Christmas time. But when did this winter elixir become a must-have for holiday bliss?
Blank explained that eggnog, which is served warm with seasonal flavors, such as nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon, made it a common winter drink. This, plus the added kick of booze or ale, made it very popular during the American Revolutionary War.
During the Revolutionary War, rum from the Caribbean wasn’t quite as plentiful. Since that was the rum of choice for eggnog, they decided to preserve the rum in the nog for special occasions like Christmas. That being said lots of revolutionary era Americans simply had to make other arrangements to spike their nog most turned to domestic spirits like whiskey. bourbon or even moonshine. Hey any port in a storm. You could even use port .
