Do you enjoy eggnog hot or cold? Enhance this classic holiday drink with a bit of rum, whipped cream, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It’s that time of the year again. If you live in the US, it’s a joyous time: the four-day holiday weekend plus start of shopping season, and of course enjoying the many delicious feasts with family and friends. There are a lot of beverage choices to go with holiday meals, but the signature drink of the season has to be eggnog.
I had never had eggnog before I moved to the US. The taste of the rich creamy sweet drink was very foreign to me when I tried it for the first time. However, as I’ve spent more and more holidays here, I have started to enjoy it during the holidays.
How Do You Enjoy Eggnog?
So what’s your favorite way to enjoy eggnog? To be honest, I do not make my own eggnog and always buy them from the stores. Then I simply add really good rum to the eggnog, top it with a bit of whip cream, and sprinkle both cinnamon and nutmeg on top.
This year as I was doing my Thanksgiving meal shopping, I saw International Delight offering eggnog in 2 different flavors – classic and vanilla. I decided to purchase both of them to see which one was more delicious. I always drink my eggnog cold, but as the weather has been quite cold in the Bay Area, Mr. JOC and I decided to experiment whether they would taste more delicious warm.
Classic Eggnog Served Warm
We first tried Classic Eggnog. To heat up the eggnog, we simply microwaved it for 30 seconds. The time could vary depending on the power of your microwave.
How was the result? The warm eggnog with rum was so yummy, it tasted like a liquid dessert. The warm temperature of the drink mellowed its unique taste a bit (eggnog could be an acquired taste if you’re not used to it), and immediately warms up your body. The rum definitely helped. It was perfect to enjoy and sip on a cold November night.
We also tried the Very Vanilla Eggnog heated up, but the cold version reminded us of vanilla ice cream and that was preferred.
Do you like your eggnog warm or cold?
Of the different brands I’ve tried, so far I definitely enjoy International Delight’s the most. If you love eggnog and too lazy to make your own, I highly recommend giving this brand a try.
If you have a holiday movie, story, or picture you would like to share this holiday season, enter the contest on International Delight. They are sponsoring a $5,000 brunch contest to a winner for sharing their story, and when you win please please please don’t forget my invitation!
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Eggnog
Ingredients
- 1 cup International Delight eggnog (Classic or Very Vanilla)
- ½ Tbsp rum (I used Bacardi gold rum)
- whipped cream
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup International Delight eggnog into your cup and add ½ Tbsp rum and mix well. Put whipped cream on top and sprinkle ⅛ tsp freshly ground cinnamon and ⅛ tsp freshly ground nutmeg. Enjoy it chilled or hot!
I am currently enjoying Shamrock Farms egg nog with Cayman Reef Barbados rum. It was luck that I bought that brand and had that rum on hand. The two go quite well together. Happy New Year from the East Bay!
Hi Richard,
We are glad to hear it turned out great and enjoyed the yummy drink!
Happy New Year!🥂
I only just had the idea that eggnog might be good warm. But I don’t have any idea of what brand or type of rum to add to it, since I have always drunk it plain. My brother-in-law told me that whenever he thought of eggnog, he always thought of it having rum (although he doesn’t drink eggnog).
I tried it with some Myers’s Dark Rum that I had on hand, but was not impressed with it. I imagine that it might have been because it was dark, and think it would be better with a light rum, but I’m not sure. And the recipe above isn’t any help.
I’m a little surprised that the recipe doesn’t specify anything about the rum, not even the type (light or dark), considering the brand of eggnog is spelled out.
Forgot to say that my favorite commercial brand of eggnog is the Publix store brand.
Hi Bruce! I’m sorry I didn’t specify the rum. I used Bacardi gold rum.
cant find the recipe
Hi Julie! Sorry, this was a product review sponsorship I worked on back in 2015. I had to make my version with International Delight eggnog (store-bought eggnog).
1/2 tablespoon ? Why even bother?
Hi Bjorn! That’s how much I put for 1 cup (I’m not much of a alcohol drinker), but it’s totally optional and you can add more if you like. This is how I drink it. 🙂 Happy Holidays!
We have always served our eggnog hot, with bourbon on the side. It really warms up cold nights! I was an adult before I ever tasted store-bought eggnog and was horrified at the inferior ingredients and weird taste. I prefer hot eggnog…
Thanks so much for sharing, Johanna! xo Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Hi Nami, the next time you are down south (California) try Broguiere’s brand eggnog. It comes in a glass bottle, from a local farm I believe and is so delicious hot or cold! I used to buy mine at Gelson’s Market, but I think Ralph’s or Sprouts also sell it around the holidays. My child has an egg allergy, so we don’t get it anymore, but I still remember the taste! Yummy!
Hi Plumeria! Yes, I’d love to try that and thanks for your recommendation. I’ll definitely look into it when I get a chance to travel south for holiday season (I might!). 🙂 Thank you!
As an adult I don’t enjoy drinking eggnog, but when I was a kid I LOVED the McDonalds eggnog shake. I have fond memories of drinking it on the car ride to my grandma’s house the day after Christmas (it was a long car ride for a kid!). I will say that I’m tempted to try the vegan versions I see in Natural Grocers.
Hi Anna! I didn’t know McDonald’s have eggnog shake! It’s a sweet memory drinking eggnog on the way home in the car. 🙂 Let me know if you liked the vegan version!
Is there any traditional japanese holiday drink that could be similar to eggnog? With sake maybe?something like ozoni-to-drink ?
Hi Genus! We don’t really “celebrate” Christmas in Japan like how we celebrate in western world, so there is no traditional holiday drink for this holiday. However, for New Years, we enjoy Amazake and sake to celebrate the beginning of the year (New Year is more family focused celebration, just like Thanksgiving and Christmas here). 🙂 And Ozoni is definitely one dish we enjoy on New Year’s Day!
I also prefer to purchase my eggnog rather than make it from scratch. We are particularly fond of the Southern Comfort brand in the Vanilla Spice flavor. It is very, very rich! (Sometimes I even dilute my serving with a bit of milk to control the richness.)
I have never had warm eggnog. However, I have used it as an ingredient in baking — eggnog cupcakes are delicious, and I have also used eggnog as the flavoring in American-style buttercream icing. Perhaps I shall try warm eggnog this season!
Hi Donna! Ohhh is that a whisky brand’s eggnog? Sounds really nice (but maybe quite rich!). Thanks for the recommendation! I have to check it out!
Me too, I never had warm eggnog before… it was pretty cozy drink, but if it’s rich, it could be a bit too much. 😀 The cupcakes? Wow that sounds really nice!