Old-Fashioned AGED Eggnog {Brown Sugar & Spiced Rum}

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This old-fashioned recipe (with a video too) for eggnog is the real deal authentic drink. The eggnog ingredients are mixed (milk, raw egg yolks, rum, & spices) and then aged for a minimum of 3 weeks and up to 1 whole year. Make some now and enjoy it for Christmas — this Christmas or the next one. Yes, it’s perfectly safe and we’ll get into all that.

a hick glass full of traditional aged eggnog with milk, rum, and egg yolks. It is topped with fresh whipped cream and nutmeg, served with a cinnamon stock. The table has Christmas decorations on it like red ball ornaments and pine cones.

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Eggnog has been traditionally associated with Christmas for a long time, but eggnog is just one drink in a whole historical category.

Boozy egg and milk concoctions have been popular for hundreds of years and aged eggnog evolved naturally from medieval times and an extremely popular concoction called posset into the eggnog we know and love today.

If you love my hot spiced custard milk (which has no alcohol) you will love this boozy festive drink too. And although I don’t drink that much or make too many cocktails, I do love my Moscow Mule recipe which is also kinda Christmas-themed.

This recipe is for aged eggnog.

Fresh whole milk (or milk and cream) are combined with raw egg yolks, sugar, and alcohol (rum, brandy, bourbon, and cognac are all popular and traditional) and then aged anywhere from 3 weeks to 1 year.

3 weeks is necessary for any threat of salmonella from the eggs to be eliminated (the alcohol content does this according to tests carried out).

Now, I’m not personally concerned with salmonella from my farm fresh eggs, but you might be. And if you’re using grocery eggs it doesn’t hurt to play it safe.

People say that the more it ages, the more mellow and tasty this aged egg nog becomes, but at least one small taste test of aged eggnog by SeriousEats.com staff showed this premise to be false.

However, I conducted my own taste tests of aged eggnog and I respectfully disagree — eggnog aged for at least 1 year is in fact smoother and more mellow.

Why this discrepancy? Other than just personal opinion, I mean.

My aged eggnog is only made with one alcohol — high-quality spiced rum (I used Sailor Jerry if you’re curious) and most other online recipes call for a whole mixture of rum, cognac, bourbon, brandy, etc.

Not only is rum more traditional and authentic if you’re trying to recreate a Christmas like your North American ancestors may have had, but I believe this is why my tests proved the year long aged version to be better.

Just my personal theory of course.

Table of Contents

Ingredients

whole milk (I use raw milk) or an equal mixture of whole milk and heavy cream.
egg yolks
rum
cinnamon
whole nutmeg (vastly superior taste to pre-ground))
ground ginger (optional)
salt

See recipe card for quantities and keep reading for substitutions and variations.

Equipment

You don’t need anything special for this recipe but an electric hand-mixer helps.

I also use an egg separator for the eggs to make it go faster, and a microplaner for the nutmeg.

You will need large bowls and something with a cover to store your eggnog in.

Instructions

Measure out your sugar into a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, separate out the egg whites from the yolks. Flip the egg yolks directly into the large bowl with the sugar. I use a simple egg separator as you can see in the video.
Keep the egg whites, covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week. They can be used in many other recipes (omelettes, pavlova cakes, meringue cookies etc.) or fed, scrambled, to your chickens and/or ducks who will appreciate the extra protein in this weather.
Using either a whisk (which is hard) or a hand mixer beat the the yolks and sugar together until you get a creay consistency. You can see in the video briefly, how my dark brown sugar turns a pale beige-brown color. This takes about 4-5 minutes with a hand mixer or double that if using a whisk.
Stir in the milk or milk/cream and keep beating.
Add your spiced rum, keep beating.
Add your spices and pinch of salt, keep beating for another minute or so. Make sure your sugar is completely dissolved.
Now you can bottle your eggnog (use a funnel) and cover it before placing in the refrigerator to age for 3 weeks or up to one year. Mark the bottle with the date you made it if you wish.
When ready to serve, the eggnog will have likely separated, so place it in a blender and give it a mix for a few seconds until the consistency is suitably creamy and uniform.
Serve topped with fresh whipped cream and more grated nutmeg.

Hint: whole nutmeg that you grate yourself (with a microplaner) is a completely different taste to the pre-ground nutmeg powder. You are really missing out on freshness and superior flavor if you don’t buy whole nutmegs.

Recipe Video

Here is the video reel I made for Instagram that shows the whole process. Follow me on Instagram for more traditional recipes and homesteading content.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Peasant’s Daughter (@thepeasantsdaughter)

Substitutions & Variations

The spices I use (cinnamon and ground ginger) are optional. The nutmeg isn’t really, not if you want true eggnog taste which is very nutmeg forward.

You can also use instead of brown sugar white sugar, maple sugar, and even maple syrup. I’m sure honey would work but I don’t think the flavor would be as good to be honest.

The spiced rum I use can be substituted for dark rum, white rum, cognac, brandy, bourbon — or any mixture of the above. I personally prefer to use rum and only rum.

Make it non-alcoholic eggnog — you can absolutely make this eggnog recipe with no alcohol. You will probably want to cut the sugar amount in half. And If you’re worried about the raw egg yolks — pasteurize your eggs first or buy pasteurized ones. And obviously drink it straight away, don’t age it. You can’t age eggnog without alcohol, you would probably die. Or get really sick IDK — just don’t.

Safety

How can milk and raw egg yolks aged for a year be safe to consume?

Alcohol. Oh, and the sugar helps too.

It has been scientifically proven in lab tests that alcohol kills any threat of salmonella any eggs may be carrying (a tiny risk regardless) by the 3-week mark.

That is why the egg nog must be aged for a minimum of 3 weeks.

The alcohol and sugar then further preserve the egg yolks and milk and make it perfectly safe for a very long time.

These drinks have been made for hundreds of years, well before refrigeration.

And our ancestors had some very genius solutions for preserving eggs and milk and meat and other foods too.

Top tip

Best served with freshly whipped cream and more grated/microplaned whole nutmeg. I make my own whipped cream by stirring dark maple syrup into raw fresh cream and then I keep it one of these professional whipped cream canisters for easy dispensing.

FAQ

Why did my homemade eggnog separate?

Your homemade aged eggnog will naturally separate as it sits in the refrigerator, aging. This is normal. When you’re ready to serve it, just throw it into a blender first. You can keep it in the blender, refrigerated, as you drink it and reblend it if/as needed.

How long can you age homemade eggnog?

Homemade aged eggnog must be aged for a minimum of 3 weeks and up to 1 year. It’s not a bad idea to separate a big batch into small covered mason jars and run your own taste tests throughout the year to see where the true sweet spot is for you and your tastes. It can probably be aged longer than one year too.

What is the best alcohol for homemade eggnog?

Personally I think straight spiced rum is the best alcohol to use for aged eggnog. Many recipes call for mixtures and I do not understand why, when I tried this I didn’t like he flavor at all.