Why You Should Never Add This Alcohol To Your Eggnog

Every family has their own spin on holiday food traditions, but when it comes to the most classic Christmas drink of them all, there's no challenging eggnog. There are many recipes for the eggs-and-dairy treat, and some of the store-bought versions can be pretty horrid. On the other hand, a nice, hot eggnog from quality ingredients is an utter delight.    

While it's perfectly possible to enjoy eggnog without alcohol, the very history of the drink revolves heavily around the strong stuff. As such, alcohol and eggnog traditionally get along like a house on fire, and the various recipes over the years have used many different types of liquor. Of course, this means that over the years, someone, somewhere has found out the hard way that some particular types of booze should never be mixed with eggnog in any circumstances whatsoever. To make sure that this sad fate won't befall on you this holiday season, it's time to find out what these unfortunately incompatible alcoholic drinks are. Let's take a look at why you should never add these two types of alcohol to your eggnog.

Eggnog is a surprisingly versatile drink that can soak all sorts of different types of booze. In a brave taste test by Maxim, classics like rum and brandy fared unsurprisingly well as eggnog alcohols, as did bourbon, Scotch, applejack — and even gin. Other well-known alcohol types like tequila and vodka were more so-so, and Baileys worked so well that the end result's creaminess actually turned against itself. 

The bad eggs in the nog game are, perhaps unsurprisingly, beer and wine. Weirdly, some beers can handle themselves in an eggnog, though if you're determined to take that route, you'd do well to skip the lager isle and make a beeline for a robust coffee or chocolate porter. Light beer is not recommended. As for wine, the folks at Maxim kept their review of the combination short and not-so-sweet, calling the taste of a wine eggnog "disgusting." Frankly, it's hard to disagree with the sentiment. Your tastebuds can almost feel the clashing flavors of that red wine tannin and the sweet eggnog, can't they? 

Of course, it's worth noting that unlike, say, Coors Light, wine does have a place in the history of eggnog, seeing as the original 14th century "eggnog" was basically spices, milk and wine. Still, it's probably better to keep with the tried-and-tested alcohols for this particular taste sensation.