Evil eggnog

While eggnog has a ‘love it or hate it’ reputation, a 2021 US poll found that it beat out gingerbread, peppermint, and pumpkin spice as a favourite festive flavour. A quintessential US eggnog recipe of eggs, milk, nutmeg, sugar, brandy and rum can be found in the 1917 book The Ideal Bartender, written by libation legend Tom Bullock.¹ The first Black American to publish a cocktail guide, Bullock’s beverages were the stuff of legend. His book demonstrates the popularity of eggnog with a single glass recipe and multi-gallon scale-up.

Eggnog – like its medieval British beverage antecedent the posset before it – was once considered luxurious because of the pricey ingredients used to whip it up. These beverages were also considered treatments for a range of ailments. This rich history is why they were often accompanied by a toast to prosperity and good health. But rather than wealth and long life, for two families in the first half of the 20th century, eggnog brought scandal and death.