WEBVTT - Holiday Inventions 3: Goblet of Eggnog 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:15.000 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.439 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. It's 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.680 at that time of year again. Uh, and by that time, 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.160 I mean it is the holidays. We're knee deep, perhaps 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.680 waist deep in the holidays, and there's no going back. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:30.920 We might as well just push forward at this point, 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.479 like it's just as much just as much effort to 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.560 keep going as it would be to turn back. So 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.599 once more, we have a holiday episode for you. It's 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.920 actually going to be our third installment in our Holiday 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.960 Invention series, where we more or less give the invention 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:52.640 treatment to various holiday decorations, traditions, and toys. This year 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.440 we're going to be looking in earnest at eggnog. Is 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.840 eggnog an invention? Sure, we can stretch the definition. I 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.040 think that's okay. I think so. I mean, we did 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:05.160 an invention, a full blown invention episode about the my Tie, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.000 which we you know, we had Jeff Beach Bumbarrion as 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:12.319 a guest talk about that eggnogg is not something that 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:16.440 occurs naturally in the world. It must be made at 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.399 some point there had to be a first or something 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.280 like a first, and you know, we'll get into that 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.640 and and it's one of those things that has a 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:28.240 number of different customs and in cultural details surrounding it. Now, Joe, 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.960 I'm not sure what your relationship with eggnog happens to be, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.399 because I don't know that we've ever really spoken about this. 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:37.200 I don't think we've had eggnog together before. Uh, not 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.440 that I recall, But my family's general approach is originally 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:45.120 by a carton of almond nogg each year, largely for 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.640 our son because he gets super into it. And if 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:49.760 I have a chance to visit a like an upscale 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.240 um like cocktail place or a nice restaurant, then then 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.760 I will jump at the opportunity to order an egg 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.000 nogg if they have one on the menu. Um. In 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.440 the past, I've made it down to New Orleans for 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:06.040 the start of beach Bumberries Sippins Santa festivities at beach 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.440 Bumberry's latitude twenty nine. They also have pop ups all 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.840 over the place, and uh, they'll generally have at least 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.000 one holiday tiky beverage on there that is at least 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:20.480 eggnog esque in form I'm picturing piles of crushed or 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:26.120 pellet ice with kind of a frothy, creamy uh grime 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:30.119 about them, and some nutmegs sprinkled over top. Oh yeah, 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.600 the nutmeg, as we'll discuss is, is pretty essential. So 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.000 I didn't make it down there this year, but I 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.120 did make it over to a tiki bar in um 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.960 in our area, Decatur's s Os Tke Bar, and I 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.160 enjoyed a frozen take on the classic eggnog. Um. It's 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.160 generally a rich drink, though, so once twice three times 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:52.000 per year max. That's generally enough for me. Now. Before 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:53.960 we came in here, though, I mentioned to my wife 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.280 that I was about to record the eggnog episode, and 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.160 she was kind enough to provide me with an entire 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.040 glass of egg nog here for me to consume during 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.359 this episode. Um, the listeners at home, you'll have to 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.040 take my word for it, Joe. I think you can 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.639 see it on the video feed here. Wait, is this 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.359 is this full booze eggnog? Or well you you might 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:21.200 well presume that, but I couldn't possibly comment. Yes, creamy, rich, 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:26.680 hint of nutmeg, beautiful. I have no eggnog in the house. 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:30.920 A cute, cute, Joe Pesci and Home Alone saying eggnog, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.000 eggnog dressed as a cop like eggnog is the most 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.280 disgusting substance on earth. And you know what, as a child, 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.400 I that that was pretty much where my head was at. 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.160 I was like, yeah, Joe Pesci and Home Alone is correct. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.600 I found the idea revolting, not just revolting, I think 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.400 I I think I probably found it borderline nauseating to 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:55.200 think of a drink made out of eggs. Something changed 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.360 over the years. Now I find it quite delightful. So 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:00.680 it was the eggs that threw you off? Yeah, you're 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.160 gonna drink eggs? I don't know. So I think about eggs. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.440 There's something that, you know, I liked eggs scrambled like 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.280 they make them at the cracker barrel. Uh you know 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:13.720 that I'm thinking of like a thick, uh yellow curd 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.760 like substance, and and always in savory context. I mean, 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.880 I know obviously now that eggs are used in all 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.680 kinds of baking and sweet context, but that's not how, 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.560 not how I thought about them when I was a kid. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.480 So the idea of drinking a sweet egg based beverage 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:34.400 was absolutely uh vile to my brain. I can understand that. 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.080 I mean, especially even the name is a bit potentially 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.920 off putting. It's very forward with the egg. What you 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.080 were about to drink contains eggs, and then the nog 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.200 also can throw one for a curve. I do like 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.120 some of the archaic spellings of eggnog that I've encountered 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.560 researching this episode. Oftentimes the way we encounter it now 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:55.359 it's e G G you know G, But some of 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.720 these other spellings will be e G G you know 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.719 g G. I like the double the double gs occurring 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.400 in both parts of the work. That's just symmetry, that's 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.520 good branding. Yes, now, before we proceed, I guess we 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.000 should go ahead and drive home exactly what egg nog is. 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.640 We've alluded to it a little bit already, but technically 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.279 it's a milk egg drink or a milk egg punch. 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.240 And we've of course reached the point as a as 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.000 a civilization where you, sir, you can have something that 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:29.000 is identifiable as a noog without the presence of egg 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.960 or dairy. But historically, this is the realm from which 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:36.599 this beverage arises. Right, So you're you you mentioned almond nogg. 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.000 I guess that is equivalent in the same way that 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.800 you might have almond milk. It is a substitute for milk. Yeah, 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.000 though I guess it's even more like some people get 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.479 up in arms, especially the dairy industry, I know about 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.200 things that are not milk calling themselves milk. And even 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.440 more to the point, I guess something like a soy 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.239 nog or an almond nog is going to have neither 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.000 eggs nor dairy, and so it's even further removed. But 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.599 yet it's still very much in the spirit of the 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:06.039 of the classic noggs, So I think it more than qualifies. Yeah, 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:10.760 nog is a thick, creamy, sweet drink. Yes, it's a 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:15.120 state of mind. Um, it's a it's a it's it's 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.479 a holiday tradition. Now, one of the sources I'm gonna 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.839 refer back to several times in this episode is the 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.960 excellent book Imbibe exclamation Point by David Wandridge, which is 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:27.680 a text that we've referenced in the show in the past. 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.880 It is one of, if not the best books you 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.560 can pick up on the history of the American cocktail. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.040 This is a great book. It cites, among many others, 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:40.240 the legendary professor Jerry Thomas who lived eighteen thirty five, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.800 the New Orleans bartender who wrote the Seminal Bartender's Guide 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:49.200 and helped popularize cocktail drinking in general. Um, I think 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:50.880 we're going too more depth on this. In an older 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.880 episode or episodes that we did together on Mixology, I 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:58.560 think we ended up talking about absent a lot in those. Yeah, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.159 that would make sense, and I know, Um, Jerry Thomas 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.880 also comes up in the recent episode on ice. Uh 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.720 the interview that I did. But according to one which 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.400 basic milk punches go back to the late sixteen hundreds 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.280 and to give you an example of what a milk 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.640 punch consists of. And again this is not an egg 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.320 milk punch, This is just a milk punch. Wonder which 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.040 includes a recipe from Jerry Thomas. Jerry Thomas would have, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.760 you know, brought up together a bunch of these different 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.840 recipes for drinks and and put them in his own 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.000 book at the time. This particular recipe from Jerry Thomas 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:37.080 calls for sugar water, brandy, rum and shaved ice, A 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:41.120 little nutmeg goes on top, and uh. Wonderage includes a 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.280 quote from Uh. This is an eight quote from the 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:48.080 Brooklyn Eagle that states that this punch was quote the 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.440 surest thing in the world to get drunk on, and 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.840 so fearfully drunk that you won't know whether you are 0:07:53.880 --> 0:08:02.920 a cow yourself or some other foolish thing. That's that's good. Uh. Well, now, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:04.920 one thing I have to point out is that when 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.520 you listed the ingredients, you did not list milk. So 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.720 I assume these are the things that are added to 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:13.160 the milk. Yes, yes, yeah, the milk would would also 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:17.360 be an important part of this. Uh. It's so already 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.520 we're kind of in the territory of what we think 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:22.280 of when we think about egg non but of course 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.120 there are no eggs there now when it comes to 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:29.000 egg nog itself. Um. Thomas was very much of the 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.840 opinion that egg nog was quote a beverage of American origin, 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.520 and wondered states that quote the drinks earliest mentions come 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.440 from a eight Philadelphia newspaper, and all the other mentions 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.840 are American, and if early European travelers to the United 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.440 States viewed it as one of the novelties Americans were 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.600 inflicting on the art of drinking. By the eighteen sixties, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.559 it was a drink of comfortable middle age with a wide, 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.480 if strictly seasonal popularity. When Thomas added that in the 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.400 North quote it is a favorite of all seasons, he 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.680 was certainly overstating the case. So you bring up that 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:09.160 mentioned in the newspaper and this, uh, this name drop 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.480 of eggnog as a recipe is also referenced in a 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.200 great source I found that was aimed at unearthing the 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:19.360 etymological history of eggnog, because it's obvious why the word 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.480 egg is in the name. There are eggs in it, 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:26.359 But what exactly is anog? Could, as the Simpsons proposed, 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.360 you equally whip up a cauldron of corn nog. Cornog 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:32.880 sounds kind of delicious, like it brings to mind like 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:37.560 corn puddings. I think it occurs in the Simpsons episode 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.360 with the hurricane, when the stores are there's a run 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.720 on the Quickie Martin. The only things left on the 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:48.400 shelves are corn nogg and wadded beef. But anyway, diving 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.920 into the history and etymology of eggnog or corn nog whatever, 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.280 what have you? Any noggs h My source here is 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.719 a December two thousand nine article called the Origins of 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:05.000 Ignag holiday Grog by the American linguist and language columnist 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.200 Ben Zimmer, who is brother of the excellent science writer 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.320 Carl Zimmer, who has been a guest on the show before. 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.520 So so here's what Ben Zimmer says about nog. The 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:19.600 word nog first shows up as a regional term in England, 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.480 specifically in the region of East Anglias as the eastern 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:29.080 part of the country containing Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.520 it referred that term. They're referred to a type of beer. 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.920 We know this because of a letter written from the 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:40.079 County of Norfolk in the year six three by a 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:45.000 man named Humphrey Pridou, who described quote a bottle of 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.720 old strong beer, which in this country they call nag. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.760 So nag is high gravity beer. It's it's strong stuff. 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.040 But to take one step back, why would the East 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:01.240 Anglians call strong beer nog? Z More identifies a couple 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.520 of hypotheses here. One is that it comes from the 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:09.240 word noggin, which we today think of as antiquated slang 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:13.680 for head for your head. But before that noggen meant 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.480 a small mug or a small drink of spirits. So 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:22.120 perhaps noggin was shorter, was shortened to nog and it 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.000 came to refer to the beer inside the mug instead 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.200 of the mug itself. And we do that kind of 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.440 metonomy with with words today like did you have wine? Oh, 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.240 I drank two glasses. You're not saying you literally drank 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.040 the glass. The glasses mean the wine inside the glass. 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:42.160 But another idea is that the word nog for strong 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.880 beer comes from a Scottish word nug or nugged ale, 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.040 which means ale that you heat up by sticking a 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.840 hot poker in it, which is funny enough to imagine 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:55.840 in itself, but I can also see how that would 0:11:55.880 --> 0:12:00.280 correspond to a drink with strong alcohol alcohol con hint, 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.120 because drinks with higher alcohol content were often said to 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:07.040 taste warm or even to burn. M hmm, yeah, this 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.920 is this is interesting. It brings to mind the images 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.000 of some of these older drinks where you would you 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.840 would you would stick the hot, hot poker or some 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.200 sort of hot metal into it. I think there's a 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:21.240 scene in the excellent TV series The Nick where you 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:23.760 see some of the characters of getting a drink of 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:29.000 this fashion Okay, so so far we've got the idea 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.079 that you start with either a little mug called a 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.520 noggin or a type of beer warmed with a hot 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.320 poker called a nug and somehow one of these terms 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.720 gets poured it over into this East Anglian word nog, 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.200 which means strong beer. But how does that actually get 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:47.079 connected to the sweet, milky, eggy drink we are familiar with. 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.040 We don't know for sure, but the link in the 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.800 chain seems to be alcohol. Because while you can buy 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:57.200 kid friendly nog in the dairy isle these days, everything 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.480 I've been reading suggests that early egg nog was boozy. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.800 That was a primary characteristic of what the nog was. 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:07.160 It had a lot of alcohol in it. Yeah, absolutely, 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.080 that's That's exactly what I saw in all of my research. 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:14.280 Nobody's talking about egg nog is something that is then spiked. 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.560 It is inherently spiked. And Zimmer reports that a Maryland 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:24.199 clergyman named Jonathan Boucher is alleged to have written the 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.480 first known reference to eggnog and a poem in seventeen 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:31.679 seventy five, but this poem was not published until about 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.880 thirty years later. So we don't know when it was 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.320 actually written for sure, but the relevant section of the 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.160 poem goes like this, fog DRAMs in the morn or 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.960 better still eggnog. This is nog with two g's at 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.840 night hot suppings and at mid day grog my palate 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.880 can regale. So you see the context here is fully 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:58.079 alcoholic grog refers to a spirit or alcoholic beverage. Uh. 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.800 Then there's that line, fog DRAMs in the morn or 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.480 better still eggnog. A dram usually refers to a small 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.960 drink of whiskey, and according to Miriam Webster, fog DRAMs 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:13.680 are quote DRAMs resorted to on the pretense of their 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:20.840 protecting from the danger of fog. I'm sorry, boss, I 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.480 had to have another whiskey before work, or the fog 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:26.280 could have killed me on the way here. All right, Well, yeah, 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.640 this is making sense as um as an early morning drink, though, 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.640 because you get your your fog protection, you get a 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.480 couple of eggs in there. Maybe you know this is 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:41.440 a breakfast that you're drinking down exactly. Um, So Bouche 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.720 may have written that in seventies. It's hard to say 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.240 for sure, but according to Zimmer, the earliest at rock Solid. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.000 References to eggnog, where we know the date of their publication, 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.960 appear in a handful of newspapers in the year seventeen 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.320 eighty eight, as you mentioned earlier. Now, one is a 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.800 March seventeen eighty eight port in the New Jersey Journal, 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.400 which and I love that this is what some newspaper 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.480 articles consisted of at the time. Uh. It says a 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:13.200 young man with a cormorant appetite meaning like gluttonous, A 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:17.520 young man with a cormorant appetite voraciously devoured last week 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.840 at Connecticut farms, thirty raw eggs, a glass of eggnog, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.920 and another of brandy sling. Yeah, is this what newspapers 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:27.760 were back in the day. Did you have like a 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.480 gluttony page for you? Like, what's everybody over eating in 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:34.200 New Jersey? Stop the presses. We've got to get this story, 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.040 this hot story about the guy who ate thirty eggs 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.920 in there. Okay, so whatever eggnog is at the time, 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.960 he had some Another article is from October eight in 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:50.560 the Independent Gazetteer of Philadelphia, where a writer was complaining 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.120 about an upset stomach and wrote, quote, when wine and 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:59.600 beer punch and eggnog. Meat instantly ensues a quarrel that 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.320 there's isdom to that. I think, Yeah, I've only ever 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.360 heard the liquor before beer kind of thing. I've never 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.560 heard it taken out to four different things with like 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.600 punch and eggnog in there. You know, we're looking back 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.440 at a at a time when, um, when when drinking 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.840 was a little more robust throughout the country. I think, yeah, 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.400 uh so anyway, yeah, I love the fact that newspapers 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.040 not only used to report on what some guy aided 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.360 a form, but also what gave me an upset tummy. 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.320 Uh So, it sounds like an alcoholic beverage known as 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.880 eggnog was in common parlance in the colonies and the 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.640 young United States in the late eighteenth century. But Zimmer 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.440 also documents how an early example of eggnog was associated 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.960 with Christmas celebration by citing a piece in the Virginia 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:53.960 Chronicle from January sevente which reads as follows. On last 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:58.880 Christmas Eves, several gentlemen melt met at Northampton Courthouse and 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:03.000 spent the evening in earth and festivity. When eggnog was 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.520 the principal liquor used by the company. After they had 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.879 indulged pretty freely in this beverage, a gentleman in the 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.280 company offered a bet that not one of the party 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.240 could write four versus ex tempore, which should be rhyme 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.640 and sense. Okay, he's like, we're so drunk, I bet 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.359 none of you can write four lines of poetry that 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.080 will make sense and rhyme. So what did they come 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:30.200 up with? While one guy belts out the following tis 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:35.199 eggnog now, whose golden streams dispense far richer treasures to 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:40.160 the ravished sense. The muse from wine derives a transient glare, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:45.840 but Eggnogg's drafts afford her solid fare. M hmm, so 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.280 move over wine. The muses are no longer interested in 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.200 you now they will only be singing to people who 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:56.760 are chugging eggnog. Eggnog doesn't seem to have a personification though, 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:01.680 Like there's no like Sadyer of eggnog, the Dionysus of eggnog. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.000 It's you know, he was before it's time. I think 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.360 he would have he would have approved of eggnog, especially 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:12.119 based on these historical references to egg So do we 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:16.160 know exactly what they were putting in eggnog at the time. Well, 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:21.000 there's a book from seventeen called Travels through the States 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.639 of North America and the Provinces of Upper and Lower 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.560 Canada during the year six and ninety seven by an 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:32.920 Irish writer and explorer named Isaac Weld. And this passage 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.280 actually reminds me of earlier when you were citing I 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:39.240 think David Wondritch who said that sometimes people from Europe 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.959 might encounter eggnog and think, oh what what, you know, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.720 what crimes they're committing against a drinking culture here in 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.120 in in the Americas. Uh. And I wonder if there's 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:52.240 a little bit of that kind of raised eyebrow going 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.520 on in this passage. But we'll see what you think. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.360 So Weld is writing about a stop at an inn 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:02.080 near Baltimore, Maryland, where he right quote, several travelers had 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.240 stopped at the same house that I did the first 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.800 night I was on the road, and we all breakfasted 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:11.280 together preparatory to setting out the next morning. The American travelers, 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.920 before they pursued their journey, took a hearty draft each 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:21.560 according to custom of eggnog, a mixture composed of new milk, eggs, rum, 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:27.359 and sugar beat up together. So eggnog it should be heavy, sweet, 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.959 exploding with alcohol, drunk in large quantities in the morning 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:35.520 before setting out on a long journey. Yeah, this is 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.360 I mean it really it forces you to rethink eggnog 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.760 because I think a lot of people are probably like 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:44.480 like me, you grew up exposed to again, the grocery 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.600 store eggnog, and there's this kind of sense that eggnog 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.320 is this drink for everybody. Eggnoggs this drink for kids. 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.840 And as you get older, and then you're perhaps in 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:57.000 a situation where you can have the eggnog with something 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:01.600 added to it, eggnog plus uh if you like. But 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:06.240 this that that the the historical truth of eggnog is no, 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.640 this is the thing that the really drunken adults are 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:13.880 having sometimes first thing in the morning. Also regarding famous 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:18.880 eggnog recipes from the early days of of the United States, 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:23.600 there is a famous recipe for eggnog that is alleged 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.240 to come from George Washington's kitchen papers. You'll find this 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.920 if you google George Washington's Eggnog. I've seen some serious 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:34.200 doubt cast upon its origins, like whether it was actually 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:38.720 Washington's but According to the Farmer's Almanac, this famous recipe 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.520 goes as follows. It's one court cream, one quart milk, 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:47.200 one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, half a pint 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.520 rye whiskey, half a pint Jamaica rum, and a quarter 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:55.119 pint sherry. And then you mix the liquor, separate the 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.679 yolks and the whites of twelve eggs, add sugar to 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:02.000 the beaten yolks. Mix well. Then you add milk and cream, 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:05.560 slowly beating. Beat the whites of the eggs until stiff 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.600 peaks form, then fold slowly into the mixture. Then you 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:10.879 let it sit in a cool place for several days. 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:16.280 Then quote taste frequently. Uh. And I could be wrong, 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.120 but I believe this is the recipe that our colleague, 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.800 our colleague Alex Williams uses when he makes his famous 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.720 eggnog for for for all of our coworkers. Yes, it 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:29.480 definitely is. This is This is definitely the recipe he 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:32.240 would use, and it it is quite delightful. But yeah, 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:35.159 I encountered the same thing. Looking at the uh, the 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:37.879 actual history of this, there's some doubt as to whether 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:43.280 George Washington actually serve this um and then there are 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:45.280 some accounts that say, well, it looks like maybe there's 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:49.159 evidence that that eggnog was served at Mount Vernon, But 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:52.919 as far as the precise recipe, I don't know that 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:55.840 there's a lot of data to back that up. Yeah, 0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:58.440 though we will have we will touch on at least 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:02.240 one former US Press resident who did have a recipe 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.479 for eggnog and did serve it and drink it. All right, 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:07.800 all this being said, before we proceed with agnog, I 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:13.680 think we can at least consider the possibility of predecessors that, yes, 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.200 even if eggnog is something that emerges in North America, 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:22.480 there at least things not unlike eggnog that one can encounter, 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:27.800 say in at least late medieval and post medieval Europe. Oh, yes, 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.640 some gorgeous textures to imagine. Yeah, so let's go back 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:33.920 to the late Middle Ages and drink some hard milk. 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:40.040 So European holiday traditions, which of course inform holiday traditions 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:43.480 and Colonial American beyond, are a mix of Christian traditions, 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:48.040 more ancient traditions, and a great deal of regional variability. 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:51.600 I was, in fact, just researching the the the Hooden 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:55.280 or Odden Horse of Kent for the Monster Facts series, 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.200 and I think that's a great example of this. Uh. 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:02.000 It brings to mind various stum street wandering traditions as 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:06.199 well as caroling and was sailing. Wassail, of course, is 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:09.440 a door to door ritualistic and communal hot drink. The 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:15.480 typically contained mold cider ale or wine and spices. But 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:20.520 then there is the tradition of the posett the poset. Yes, 0:23:21.560 --> 0:23:24.560 the Smithsonian Magazine website has a has a nice article 0:23:24.600 --> 0:23:28.400 about this title Past the Poset colon the Medieval Eggnog 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:32.240 by Lisa Brahman, and according to this article, it apparently 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:35.480 dates back to late medieval Europe, and it looks like 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:38.680 some of the examples come to us from the post 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:42.760 medieval world and beyond. Anyway, the the poset itself is 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:45.680 a drinking vessel, as Brahman points out, and you see 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.560 mention of it even in Shakespeare's Macbeth, in which Lady 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:53.760 Macbeth poisons the posets of the guards outside Duncan's quarters. 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:57.800 Oh I forgot about that. I had as well. When um, 0:23:57.840 --> 0:23:59.920 when the author here brings it up, I'm like, oh, yeah, 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.119