Eggnog at the Millesime (photo by jonathan baskin)
Glogg at Aquavit (Zandy Mangold)
The presents are yet to be wrapped, and the stockings, well, they’re probably still stuffed in a box somewhere. But what better way to procrastinate further than with a doozy of a holiday drink?
Whether it’s a tasty new twist on old-school English eggnog or a spicy warm glassful of traditional Scandinavian glögg (pronounced “glug,” as in a big old sip), city barkeeps are as busy as elves concocting sweet new ways for you to get sloshed this season.
“Christmastime in my house, there’s always eggnog,” says The Mermaid Inn’s beverage director, Daryl Swetz. “My uncle Sal cheats a bit and buys eggnog ice cream and lets it melt.”
At the eatery’s Upper West Side location, Swetz sticks to a more authentic version, nodding to the tradition of the drink by using real eggs and milk, and adding some red apple cider in his Cider Eggnog ($12). “It’s a health drink,” he chuckles.
For those leery of supping anything involving a raw egg, BLT Burger’s beverage director, Richard Breitkreutz, suggests his Spiked Eggnog Shake ($11). “It’s eggnog ice cream and rum. It’s simple, it’s clean, you don’t have to worry about salmonella.”
Uncle Sal would be proud.
At Millesime, the swank lounge at the Carlton Hotel, partner Peter Chase swears by a vintage version found in a 1944 bar guide for his Baltimore Eggnog ($15). “Eggnog gets a bad rap because people think it’s so sickly sweet — you know, real hangover material. But if you make it fresh, it has this unexpected lightness to it.”
But while eggnog — which hearkens back to medieval England, and gained popularity in the US when George Washington served it at Mount Vernon holiday bashes — may be having a moment, it’s got some competition from glögg, the mulled wine that Swedes drink on the four Sundays of Advent that lead up to Christmas.
At White Slab Palace on the Lower East Side, owner Annika Sundvik says her vodka- and sugarless-glögg ($7) is an adaptation of the version she grew up drinking in Sweden, and reminds her of “long walks in the snow and warming up with glögg and gingersnaps. But it’s not like you need more than one glass.”
Uptown at Aquavit, chef Marcus Jernmark doesn’t dare to omit the vodka and Port, which, along with red wine, traditionally make up a glögg, but he’s added a twist with long peppers, an Indonesian spice that was among the first items the Swedes imported from Asia. Just don’t get Jernmark started on the differences between glögg and gluwein, the heady mulled wine served in Christmas markets across Europe (and at bars like Williamsburg’s Spuyten Duyvil). “Gluwein and glögg are nothing alike,” says the passionate chef.
Skeptical? You’ll just have to raise a glass and see for yourself.
Millesime at the Carlton Hotel’s Baltimore Eggnog
From Crosby Gaige’s The Standard Cocktail Guide, 1944
Serves 1
· 1 egg
· ½ tbsp granulated sugar
· ½ ounce brandy
· ½ ounce rum
· 6 ounces whole milk
Shake ingredients with ice in a Boston shaker and strain into a brandy snifter over fresh ice. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
Aquavit’s Glögg by executive chef Marcus Jernmark
Serves 8 to 10
· 2 bottles dry red wine
· ½ bottle of Port wine
· 1 cup vodka
· ¼ lb dried figs, sliced
· ¼ lb raisins
· 2 oranges, peel ribbons and juice
· 8 ounces light brown sugar
· 2 star anise
· 4 long peppers
· 5 cloves
· 7 cardamom pods
Place all ingredients in a large pot and bring mixture to a simmer, stirring from time to time. Remove from heat and allow glogg to macerate for 2 hours. Strain when ready to use, reheat and serve with blanched almonds, raisins and pepparkakor (gingersnaps) on the side.