A NEW-OLD SPIN ON EGGNOG

By PINK LADY

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Eggs in cocktails? Why yes, of course. You couldn't make flips or fizzes any other way. But for the uninitiated, mixing raw egg in a drink always prompts shock and awe ... unless we're talking about eggnog. And wherever you stand on the issue, eggnog is probably already part of your holiday tradition.

In the early days of our nation, drinks made with raw eggs were a common quaff. The colonial-era mixture of ale, rum, eggs and sugar passed back and forth in pitchers and dubbed a "flip," for example, was a veritable fixture of day-to-day drinking. As with most early tipples, these drinks changed over time, shrank in size and morphed into a beverage made to order and tailored to individual taste. By the mid-1850s, egg drinks were less common for day to day, but remained a key component for yuletide imbibing. Today, eggnog is one of the only raw egg drinks you can recommend that won't prompt an "ew" when you suggest it to the neophyte.

Early recipes for eggnog blended cognac, dark rum, a whole egg, milk and freshly grated nutmeg, and unless you're buying cartons of Hood-brand prefabricated stuff, this is probably the very recipe you use. Thus, eggnog in this form is hardly an "endangered cocktail." Another popular variation substituted fortified wine for the hooch, as printed in the 1862 volume of Jerry Thomas' How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon Vivant's Companion.

Made with Oloroso sherry in place of cognac and rum, Jerry Thomas' sherry eggnog is such a delight we suggest bringing it back to wow your family and friends this week. Unless, of course, you require the high-test original to get through holidays with the fam'. In that case, bottom's up and godspeed.

SHERRY EGGNOG ADAPTED FROM HOW TO MIX DRINKS, OR THE BON VIVANT'S COMPANION BY JERRY THOMAS
4 oz Oloroso sherry
yolk of one egg
1 oz simple syrup
milk

Combine sherry, simple syrup and egg yolk in shaker and shake (without ice) for about 10 seconds to emulsify. Add ice and shake again for a very long time. Strain into an ice-filled 10-ounce tall glass and top with milk. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

CIN-CIN!

LET PINK LADY SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE THIS CLASSIC—VISIT HOW2HEROES.COM. FOR MORE GREAT YULETIDE COCKTAILS, VISIT LUPECBOSTON.COM.