A one-time holiday staple, eggnog is back in tasty fashion
Eggnog, the traditional American winter holiday drink, fell somewhat out of favor for some years. Why? It’s hard to say. Perhaps its creaminess scared off the health-conscious, or its sometimes laborious construction scared off bartenders. Maybe it was simply a casualty of the drinking down-years from ’70s until the early 2000s. Whatever the reason, outside of a few midwestern outposts, eggnog became a bit of a rarity in bars.
And yet, last week I was part of a panel of Seattle swilling experts sitting around a table at South Lake Union’s Ba Bar, judging some of the tastiest eggnog variations ever. Check out this lineup of boozy legends on the panel: Sip’s Kristin Bacon, longtime Seattle Times food and drink writer Tan Vinh, Vinepair podcast host Zach Geballe, Cloudburst Brewing owner and brewer Steve Luke, Brovo distiller Mac Kenney, and the Beeroness herself, local food and drink writer and photographer Jackie Dodd.
The eggnog contest was brought to life by jolly Jon Christiansen (Saigon Siblings Beverage Director and Looking Glass cocktail mixers creator and proprietor), who “decided to have a contest to start a holiday tradition for the Seattle bar community.” This year, all the Saigon Sibling bars and restaurants were crafting their own Eggnog recipes, instead of him making it for each. With the differing ’nog takes, he thought “a friendly competition” would make it merrier, and then “realized it would be the perfect holiday blitz to invite others in.”
This led to eggnog contest entries from the Ba Bar outposts and Monsoon alongside ’nogs from bartenders shaking at Rochambeau, Alder and Ash, Nue, and more. To bring such a celebratory lineup of judges and bartenders together — a lineup all nice, not naughty — Eggnog must be well and truly back. But why?
Eggnog’s history traces a dairy-driven line to medieval Britain, specifically to a drink called posset, made of milk, alcohol and spices. Some creative monks (we owe much of our drinking delights to monks) added eggs, which became a part of posset by the 17th century. Along with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and mace, the drink was usually mixed with sherry.
Traveling to the U.S.’s early days, the drink’s sherry switched to more-available — and cheaper — rum. The name switched, too. “Nog” derives from an Old English word for beer or an Old Scottish word for a small cup. (We know what the word “egg” means.) Regional eggnog variations sprang up, often changing the base spirit and seasoning mix. It even became a favorite of doctors — eggs and spices being thought healthy. And then became a winter holiday standby, before fading in favor like a tarnished Christmas tree ball.
Our eggnog comeback could be solely a part of the last 25 years’ cocktail revolution, with talented shakers and stirrers bringing back, updating and modernizing many classic drinks. But I think there’s something additional to it. Judge Zach Geballe said about eggnog, “it’s an indulgence,” and, for me, he’s cracked it. Around the holidays, we feel like indulging, like celebrating. Eggnog is a “treat drink,” (another well-coined Geballe phrase), and at this tinselled time of year, people deserve treats.
Fortunately, we boast a wide array of genius bartenders here in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, ones who can take a joyous mix like eggnog and raise it to another creative level, which is how we find ourselves currently within a wonderland of eggnog choices, each bartender unwrapping their own spin to the drink.
The eggnog competition demonstrated this amazingly. We elfish judges sampled eight different eggnogs, each as individual as a snowflake. Spirits and liqueurs used covered the globe: enough rums to map the Caribbean, as well as sherry, Cognac, brandy, Pisco, Calvados, tequila, bourbon, Scotch, Irish whiskey, vermouth and more. Even Chicago’s buttery Malort showed up. And spices? A normal rack couldn’t have held them. Time-honored eggnog spicing mingled alongside tropical treats like banana, coconut, pineapple, lilikoi and pandam. Moreover, there were intriguingly curious additions, including charred cassia bark, caramel, and espresso powder.
Plus, there was enough cream and eggs to fill a bathtub. We were spoiled with eggnog choices, like kids given everything they wanted for Christmas. Just revisiting this lineup of skilled bartenders and ’nogs makes me thirsty:
Rob Ruetz, University Village Ba Bar
Eggnog creation: UV NoG
Shattuck Wildaner, South Lake Union Ba Bar
Eggnog creation: Green Eggs & Ham
Zachary Reifert, Capitol Hill Ba Bar
Eggnog creation: Vietnamese Coffee-Inspired Nog
Jon Christiansen, Monsoon
Eggnog creation: Silky and Tropical Nog
Chris Cvetkovich/Adam Weintraub, Nue
Eggnog creation: Feliz Nogidad
Silas Manlove, Love Hospitality LLC
Eggnog creation: Sherrying is Caring
Travis Sanders, Rochambeau
Eggnog creation: Malort Face Nog
Benji Sager, Alder and Ash
Eggnog creation: Hollaback Nog
After sampling the lot, we were, as judge Beeroness Jackie Dodd so festively said, “Aficionogos.” You can be one too! Most of the bars listed above are featuring eggnogs entered on winter menus — Rochambeau even has a second ’nog. A host of bars around Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are highlighting eggnogs on their holiday menus as well, including Essex, Sol Liquor Lounge, Otter on the Rocks, The Maple, and more. You can even get an NA eggnog foam latte at The Shop by Porter. Eggnog is truly back — a Christmas without it is like a stocking full of coal.
While each eggnog judged was winter-worthy, only one could be the winner, the star at the top of this tree. That winner this year … Shattuck Wildaner from, funny enough, the South Lake Union Ba Bar where the contest commenced. His Green Eggs & Ham Eggnog was mint-shaded and inventive while customarily noggy enough to feel seasonally ideal. It had Cognac, sherry, dark rum, whiskey, a pork belly fat wash, chicory, eggs, a blend of creams and milks, coconut, and pandan.
Beyond the glory, Wildaner received a “big-ass” trophy. But he only gets to keep it until next holiday season, as Christiansen plans on making this eggnog contest annual. He’s hoping to grow it with more eggnogs, opening it to the public (keep your eyes peeled), adding a charity component and further joys. Beyond the festive fun, however, Christiansen wants it to be a place where bartenders can “showcase their skills, to engage in that creative process that gives life to what they do.”
The contest is becoming a space for them “to give people something they’re proud of, something they’ve worked on,” says Christiansen. “That’s the beauty of this beverage world, at the end of that effort, what you are giving people is a gift that you are capable of giving.”
Now that, holidayers, is a sentiment to warm the eggnog heart of any Scrooge.
