Among all Christmas drinks Champagne is a
traditional Christmas tipple and millions of bottles of bubbly are
enjoyed every year. Around the World Brewers make special Christmas
Beers. These are usually dark, sweet brews of exceptional strength
and flavor and especially suitable for drinking in extreme cold
weather conditions and office parties. Mulled wine, (Gluhwein), is a
popular Christmas drink in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. It
contains red wine, fruit, cloves and cinnamon and is served hot by
street vendors at Christmas Fairs, (Weihnachtmarkt). Many believe
that eggnog is a tradition that was brought to America from Europe.
This is partially true. Eggnog is related to various milk and wine
punches that had been concocted long ago in the "Old World".
However, in America a new twist was put on the theme. Rum was used
in the place of wine. In Colonial America, rum was commonly called "grog",
so the name eggnog is likely derived from the very descriptive term
for this drink, "egg-and-grog", which corrupted to
egg'n'grog and soon to eggnog.
Of course, Christmas was not the only day upon which eggnog was
popular. In Baltimore it was a tradition for young men to call upon
all of their friends on New years day. At each of many homes the
strapping fellows were offered a cup of eggnog, and so as they went
they became more and more inebriated. It was quite a feat to
actually finish one's rounds. Eggnog is still a popular drink during
the holidays, and its social character remains. It is hard to
imagine a Christmas without a cup of the "nog" to spice up
the atmosphere and lend merriment and joy to the proceedings. When
you try out some of the recipes on this site, remember that, like
many other of our grand traditions, there is history and life behind
that little frothy brew.
