Festy

Ah, yes. Here it is: the final report on the egg nog. After aging in the fridge for 3 weeks as per the recipe, The Boy and I cracked this stuff open and had ourselves a little taste.

The first thing that we noticed, of course, was the deeply alcoholic smell wafting from the jug. I figured this was a good sign, because how could the milk and eggs possibly go bad with that much alcohol sloshing around in there. Next came the sexy pin-up photoshoot of the nog in front of the tree, and then finally we were ready to take the first sip.

Whoo. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. The nog turned out really strong and smooth. There's a bit of an alcoholic burn that shows up on the middle of the tongue, but after that it goes down sweet and smooth. It's quite lovely, with a much better (less thick-and-gluey) mouthfeel than the regular store-bought stuff. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner.

My only quibble is that I swear I can detect a faint hint of the bad brandy I used to substitute the cognac, and it's possible that I'm right. So to test this theory, yesterday I whipped up another batch, with The Boy donating half a cup of some really nice cognac he likes. The pouring went smoother, and I spilled nary a drop transferring it from the pot to the jug. This batch will age just a little less than the called-for 3 weeks, and then we'll be sharing it around at whatever New Year's Eve party is lucky enough to host us. Until then, it sits in the fridge undergoing whatever magical chemical reactions it takes to transform from a bunch of dairy-and-liquor to the sublime concoction it's meant to be.

Cheers.