Aged eggnog will not be a brand new factor. Googling it would convey up recipes not from overwrought fringe blogs however, relatively, authentic culinary sources. I’ve personally been growing old eggnog in earnest because the winter of 2015, and a few of that inventory nonetheless stays in my fridge. The idea predates not simply experiments of practically a decade in the past, however the web age, too. In truth, George Washington’s printed eggnog recipe in an Outdated Farmer’s Almanac particularly instructs growing old it in a cool place for “a number of days.” I’ve come right here to persuade you that this 12 months, it’s best to make extra—rather more—eggnog than is cheap for one family, after which age it. For just a few days, weeks, months—even years.
Whereas it’s confirmed that extended growing old above 14 % ABV causes the booze to sterilize any potential pathogens, at present’s nog-aging nuts do it for the improved taste. Think about Frederic Yarm, who created a nitro-infused aged eggnog for Cambridge’s Loyal 9 in 2015; or former Porchlight beverage director Nicholas Bennett, whose aged model has develop into so well-known round New York Metropolis that it appeared in Sother Teague’s 2018 e-book I’m Simply Right here for the Drinks. And at The Trendy, New York bartender Patrick Smith created a barrel-aged eggnog with crème anglaise and a mixture of brandy, rum, Scotch and sherry in 2018. “It ended up tasting incredible, with the vanilla and spice flavors from the barrel actually tempering the alcohol content material and customarily rounding issues out, whereas in some way additionally making it extra full-bodied and decadent,” he says.
However you don’t want a nitrogen rig or a barrel to do it at dwelling. For those who poke round on Fb and Reddit, you’ll see that the majority beginner dwelling bartenders appear to comply with Alton Brown’s recipe, which first appeared in 2005. It’s the place I began my exploration as nicely. However, within the years since, I’ve decided that aged eggnog just about at all times “works” it doesn’t matter what base spirits you utilize, it doesn’t matter what specs you employ—Punch’s most popular eggnog recipe from Max Overstrom-Coleman is an effective place to begin.
You’ll be able to even combine batches from totally different years. At Pasjoli in Santa Monica, the batch has been going robust for seven years, and at Corvino in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, the observe began simply earlier than the pandemic’s arrival. “Once I took over the bar program at Corvino Supper Membership and Tasting Room in February 2020, I inherited a pair gallons of Adam Chase’s eggnog left over from the vacations,” says Hannah Jones, who was the lead bartender at Corvino and is now the overall supervisor on the Resort Kansas Metropolis. “When the entire world shut down a month later … my husband and I have been joking round a few ‘solera-style nog,’ and I made a decision to place Adam’s gallons into mine earlier than sealing them into vacuum luggage to age till Thanksgiving.” The consequence? An eggnog that Jones describes as “liquid gold.”
