The season for it may be over but this eggnog had been sitting there for over a year and wasn’t going to drink it self.

Leaving it for a few extra weeks, more to develop the courage to drink it than to further develop the flavors, I finally sampled the aged eggnog I had started back in January of 2013. I had all of these lofty plans to pass it out around the holidays to impress my friends and coworkers but before I could do that I felt compelled to have it tested for any foodborne illnesses. The last thing I wanted was to give samples to my girlfriends’ parents or my Chef de Cuisine and have them hospitalized for explosive diarrhea.

Contrary to what your instincts might tell you, there is little to no risk of most foodborne illness one might associate with aging eggs. The level of alcohol in the recipe and the amount of time I let pass before consumption was scientifically proven (by brighter minds than mine) to kill off any bacteria and pathogens commonly linked to food related assplosions.

Check out a video here.

There are dangers to be sure that should not be taken lightly. The most likely problem that could occur, as is the case with most long-term canning and bottling, is botulism, a potentially fatal foodborne illness. Because of the inherent life-threatening danger to all of this I wasn’t going to let anyone taste this until I had it tested.

Either because it was too hard or I was too lazy that never happened until the other night when I made a cocktail for myself and drank it. I am not going to say I wasn’t a little scared but I was also a little drunk so it balanced out*.

The resulting cocktail was one of the best eggnogs I have ever had.

And I am still alive, so there’s that.

The recipe that I used broke down as such:

Eggnog Batch

24 whole Eggs

680 grams of Sugar

700 mL Elijah Craig 12 Bourbon (47% abv)

250 mL Louis Royer Force 53 VSOP Cognac (53% abv)

150 mL Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 (40% abv)

10 grams of salt

Using a KitchenAid, I blended the sugar and eggs together on a low speed until the sugar had fully dissolved (around 2 minutes). Then, as slowly as possible, I added the sprits trying to avoid any frothing and curdling of the eggs. This took about ten minutes, probably because I was being overly cautious. Finally, with the KitchenAid still set as low as it could be, I added the salt.

This batch was divided into two clean jars, one to be aged for one year and the other for an additional year. I will let you know how that one turns out in December.

Eggnog

2.75 oz. Aged Eggnog Batch

1.25 oz. While Milk

.25 oz. Heavy Cream

Grated Nutmeg

Build ingredients into a cocktail shaker over ice and vigorously shake until well chilled and frothy. Strain into a glass and grate nutmeg on top.

And it was amazing. I have never tasted Eggnog so perfectly blended and balanced and decidedly unique as this. The rum, cognac and bourbon had time to meld together with the eggs and sugar to form such a unique base with such a wonderful texture that it is hard to describe without sounding sexual. The added cream created a balance light enough to really bring out a slight fruity sweetness without making it feel like I was drinking a syrupy mess.

I have a lot of the batch over so reach out to me if you are interested in sampling some. I will drink a little with you just to prove there is nothing to be worried about.

Or you can wait eleven more months for the 2-year batch to finish aging.

*Fun Fact: On paper the symptoms of botulism are so similar to being drunk and tired (blurred vision and speech, heavy arms, drooping eyelids) that trying to fall asleep after a few nogs is particularly terrifying.