All these Christmas-laced threads, so here’s mine. The traditional holiday drink that I love is egg nog. The other traditional thing to do is spike it with something alcoholic. So, you’re favorite liquor that you use to give the old nog a kick (you can always say “virgin” if you don’t like to ruin your egg nog with alcohol, or vica versa).
I go with rum (I mean, I am “Corsair” after all - gotta stick with the pyrate motif), usually Cap’n Morgans. But these year I’ll go with “Release the Kraken!”
I always spike mine with vodka. I’ll have to give the rum a shot, though. Vodka tends to separate a bit and without much taste of it’s own, it’s a bit like drinking a layered shot of alcohol then egg nog. Not so hot.
I usually drink mine sans alcohol as I don’t drink a much to start with. But I do like rum so I might have to give that a go this year. As for the egg nog itself, I’ve tried every brand at the grocery store and I find that Turkey Hill is just far and above the rest. I won’t even bother if I can’t get that brand.
Traditionally in the US, you usually add bourbon or rum. Which makes sense, since vodka wasn’t really available here until post WWII. If I don’t have bourbon around (which I often don’t), I usually just use my “table rum”, Mount Gay, which doesn’t fight much with anything. I have some other, more potent aged rums that it’s sort of a crime to mix, so I don’t.
I’ve seen the kraken rum, but never bought it. How would you describe its flavors?
If you haven’t ever, you owe it to yourself to make egg nog from scratch. It’s horrible for you (you basically make ice cream base and don’t freeze it), and you have to be okay with raw egg (or get pasteurized eggs), but it’s fantastic.
I love properly-spiced egg nog, but can’t stand the taste of alcohol.
I used to think I just loved egg nog, period, but then I had some bland egg nog, and then some overly sweet egg nog, and then some that was disgusting and can’t state what was horrible about it easily. So I’ve fallen back on saying I love some egg nogs.
Brandy/Cognac are also good to add, though putting expensive cognac into egg nog seems like you are losing the advantages of the expense by overkilling it with egg nog, so I tend to stick with rums. Most rums (or at least the ones I favor) have a very smooth finish with no alcohol bite, which I think works well with egg nog.
I’ve seen the kraken rum, but never bought it. How would you describe its flavors?
It’s a black rum, so it’s inherently more flavorful than a gold or light. I’ve heard it described as angling for a Black Seal flavor (wouldn’t know, not having tried that). And spiced rum entirely depends on whether you like the spices they use. Vanilla and cloves most prominently to my palate, less so cinnamon, and maybe just a vague hint of anise (not enough to put me off, and I’m put off easily by it). Exceedingly smooth finish. And 94 proof, so packs a bigger punch than standard Captain Morgan (70 proof). I’m not a huge fan of light rums, which are often used as mixers.
If you haven’t ever, you owe it to yourself to make egg nog from scratch. It’s horrible for you (you basically make ice cream base and don’t freeze it), and you have to be okay with raw egg (or get pasteurized eggs), but it’s fantastic.
Sounds like work. But yeah, bad or even mediocre egg nog is not worth bothering with (especially without a lot of rum)
Yeah, most commercial brands of egg-nog are either too sweet, too drab, or too runny. However, I’ve taken a liking lately to some store-brand (Smith’s/Kroger) pumpkin egg-nog. Haven’t tried mixing it with anything yet.
I have a cousin that home-makes it with Crown Royal and mint, which surprisingly tastes better than it sounds. Still wouldn’t call it good, so I mostly drink it just to be nice, and she adds enough whisky that I don’t much care after awhile.
Huh, their #2 pick is Hood Golden, which is the specific Nog I was thinking of when I said “bland.” Of course, they didn’t like any of the store nogs that much, they rating Hood Golden 5.6/10, which is probably about right since they’re using a 1-10 scale instead of 7-9. On the other hand, I tried out some “Hood Cinnamon” recently, and it was pretty good.
Gosling’s is my favorite dark rum, it’s the rum you can chew! I find Myers, for example, too thin, and a little too astringent last time I bought it (which was a while ago). I haven’t played with spiced rums very much though, since I don’t do mixed drinks all that often. Maybe I’ll get a bottle of Kraken for myself for Christmas.
I’d be concerned that mixing Gosling’s (and by extension, Kraken) with egg nog would be too cloying and sweet, that it would overpower the nog flavor. On the other hand, the body might buoy the store bought nog and give it some more complexity. Probably depends on the brand of nog though. I could see home made egg nog standing up to it pretty well, though, so I may give it a shot for our christmas party.
Now see, they knock Turkey Hill for being thick, but that’s one of the things I like most about it. Most store Egg Nogs are way too thin. I’m not worried about the spicyness since I always top off my glass with a sprinkle of nutmeg anyway.
