FOOD NEWS
How Drinking Eggnog Became Synonymous With Christmas Festivities
By Aimee Lamoureux
While your everyday grocery store eggnog is usually sold right next to the milk, the traditional homemade recipe included a hefty dose of rum or whiskey. Eggnog has been a holiday staple for years, and we actually have Medieval monks to thank for this popular Christmas drink.
In Britain during the 13th century, monks were known to make "posset," an ale that was mixed with milk, eggs, figs, and sherry and was usually reserved for times of good prosperity, since those ingredients were luxuries. However, the drink only became associated with Christmas in the 1700s, when the drink made its way to America.
Colonists in the New World had farms that gave them access to plenty of eggs and milk, as well as large quantities of cheap rum, so they enjoyed eggnog during the cold winter months. These days, eggnog is still very much synonymous with Christmas festivities, but one doesn't have to have their own farm to enjoy the eggnog.