Your Favorite Holiday Drinks
Decatur Metro | December 7, 2011
Originally I was going to make this post about winter/holiday beers. But then I thought about it a little bit, and didn’t want to inadvertently exclude anyone who wants to unload a passionate love of an eggnog cocktail or a hot mug of mulled wine.
So what are your favorite holiday drinks?
I discovered Bell’s piney Christmas Ale a few weeks ago, which is an interesting take on a holiday beer. But after a couple Decembers in Europe over the last decade, I have trouble steering away from a good mug of gluhwein. Especially on a freezing cold day.
Got anything better?
Glühwein @ Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt photo courtesy of theboybg via Flickr
Latest from Decaturish
A Perfect Manhattan. Up with a Brandied Cherry.
+1
also egg nog (using my great-grandmother’s recipe which is for a large batch using a dozen eggs and 2 quarts of whipping cream, among other things–basically has to be eaten with a spoon) liberally spiked with bourbon
I’ll trade you a bottle of Jager and six pack of PBR for a batch of that!
My egg nog is similar – also includes a whole box of powdered sugar and peach schnapps. J_T – I am making some on the 24th if you want to come over for a cocktail.
Oooh yeah! We will be in town for Christmas so that sounds like a plan!
From my mother’s handwritten recipe card:
Separate 2 dozen eggs. Beat yolks 20 min at low speed, until light lemon color and fluffy. Continue beating as you add 2 1/2 c bourbon, very little at a time.
Whip 2 qts whipping cream until it peaks, add 6 T sugar and beat. Fold in egg yolk mixture.
Whip egg whites until dry and lose their gloss, then add 18 T of sugar, one at a time. Continue beating for 10 minutes. Fold egg whites into the first mixture until well-mixed and smooth.
Serves 25 people.
NOTE: Use very large bowls! (Serve in a punch bowl)
Merry Christmas!
One more note: if making the whole recipe, best to use a hand mixer or a manual egg beater, since the volume increases too much for even the biggest bowl of a stand mixer.
You read my mind! Thanks for posting STG!
This sounds a lot like a recipe I used to use and love. It’s so much better than cooked egg nog (although the rum content of the latter can offset the inferior quality!) But I gave up my old recipe because commercially produced raw eggs have gotten so risky. However, according to the USDA website, this kind of recipe is safe if one uses pasteurized eggs:
“However, if you’re making your own eggnog, be sure to use a recipe that calls for slowly heating the egg and milk or cream mixture to 160 °F as measured with a food thermometer. This will maintain the taste and texture while also killing bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.
As an alternative, you may use uncooked, pasteurized eggs or egg products when preparing recipes that call for using eggs raw or undercooked.”
(http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Script_Holiday_Favorites/index.asp)
Dumb question: Where does one buy pasteurized eggs? Are they expensive?
If I cannot find my old recipe for egg nog, I will use STG’s. Thanks, STG!
I’m quite sure this recipe used eggs from the backyard until well into the 1940s. You could probably put together a couple dozen eggs from the small amounts of excess production offered by Decatur neighbors. And I’ll bet Whole Paycheck sells pasteurized eggs. Maybe Rainbow?
Thanks!
Sounds like my grandmother’s egg nog recipe. Lovely times.
Agreed. If you dig a good Manhattan, have Miles at Leon’s make you a Park Slope…
Ah Park Slope. Thomas Wheatley calls it the “Decatur of the north”!
Alcoholic: Champagne (preferably Piper Heidseck or Egly Ouriet); non-alcholic: Peppermint hot chocolate. Hot drink on a cold day: Hot chocolate with a shot of Kahlua & a shot of Frangelico (try it– it’s amazing!).
I like Gluhwein! Maybe someone will build a Gluhwein house on the square!
+1
+2. Some of my best memories are of Christmas Markets in Germany and the Netherlands.
Something just got changed with the alcohol ordinance that I think will now make this a more viable option. I’m sure there are still hurdles – maybe all kinds of restrictions – but the city changed the alcohol ordinance where now a restaurant can sell and serve off-site and it isn’t prohibitively expensive. I think it was literally in the 5 digits before to get a single permit and now it’s like $500 annually?
I’m not entirely sure what this could result in, but I’m really hoping a Gluhwein house is in the cards!
Lyn??? Please shoot a hole in this before we get too excited.
PBR and Jager. What the hell does the season or holiday have to do with it?
French 75. Coffee with Frangelico.
Jäger!
Hot chocolate with a shot of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum. Chocolate! Spices! Alcohol!
Bailey’s Irish Cream on the rocks
coke zero with some Jack Daniels always takes the edge off during the gift wrapping process