Eggnog

Eggnog (/ˈɛɡˌnɒɡ/ ^ⓘ), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk and whipped egg white (which gives it a frothy texture, and its name). A distilled spirit such as brandy, rum, whiskey or bourbon is often a key ingredient.

Throughout North America, Australia and some European countries, eggnog is traditionally consumed over the Christmas season, from early November to late December. A variety called Ponche Crema has been made and consumed in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Trinidad since the 1900s, also as part of the Christmas season. During that time, commercially prepared eggnog is sold in grocery stores in these countries.

Eggnog is also homemade using milk, eggs, sugar, and flavourings, and served with cinnamon or nutmeg. While eggnog is often served chilled, in some cases it is warmed, particularly on cold days (similar to the way mulled wine is served warm). Eggnog or eggnog flavouring may also be added to other drinks, such as coffee (e.g., an "eggnog latte" espresso drink) and tea, or to dessert foods such as egg-custard puddings.

The Modern Bartender's Guide from 1878 lists many variant names for the drink. It distinguishes "plain eggnog," "egg milk punch," and "milk punch" from one another. It also includes variants such as "Baltimore eggnog," "General Jackson eggnog," "Imperial eggnog," two types of "sherry cobbler eggnog," as well as "sherry cobbler with egg," "mulled claret with egg," "egg sour," and "Saratoga egg lemonade" (also called "sea breeze").

The origins, etymology, and the ingredients used to make original eggnog drinks are debated.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, nog was "a kind of strong beer brewed in East Anglia". The first known use of the word nog was in 1693. Alternatively, nog may stem from the word noggin, a Middle English term for a small, carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol.

Posset, a curdled beverage of milk and either wine or ale, was a popular beverage in Britain that may have been a precursor to eggnog. Some monks would add eggs and figs to posset. However, the British drink was also called an egg flip, from the practice of "flipping" (rapidly pouring) the mixture between two pitchers to mix it. One dictionary lists the word eggnog as being an Americanism invented in 1765–75.

Babson College professor Frederick Douglass Opie contends that the term derives from two colonial slang words: grog (rum) that bartenders served in noggins (small wooden mugs). From here came egg and grog, then egg-n-grog, and finally the portmanteau eggnog. Barry Popik disputes the "egg and grog" theory on the basis that there is absolutely no evidence to support it.