Which Eggnogs Are Worthy of a Little Yuletide Cheer?

Like clockwork, every November our cravings set us in search of rich, creamy (and sometimes boozy) eggnog. With the busyness of the holidays, there isn't always time to whip up a batch of homemade nog, and there are plenty of store-bought brands to choose from--but which ones make the cut? The editors of Imbibe Magazine recently blind-tasted six eggnogs with nationwide availability--four dairy and two non-dairy. We tasted them all solo and also mixed with bourbon, and while the moral of the story ended up being that it's tough to beat a good batch of the homemade stuff, there are a few packaged versions worthy of a little yuletide cheer.

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Mountain Dairy for QFC/Kroger

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Mountain Dairy for QFC/Kroger Mountain Dairy has a full and creamy body with loads of vanilla flavor, a touch of sourness and hint of mint, which some might find a little out of place. Bourbon, however, rounds it out nicely.

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Mountain Dairy for QFC/Kroger
Mountain Dairy has a full and creamy body with loads of vanilla flavor, a touch of sourness and hint of mint, which some might find a little out of place. Bourbon, however, rounds it out nicely.

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Comments

[lunacougar]

03:31 PM on 12/13/2010

I'm so glad to be back in the USA for Christmas, mainly for the eggnog!

[Havana Thinks]

04:46 AM on 12/07/2010

What happened to the month of January when all the egg nog was gone?....I used to buy Borden in the can but cannot find it anymore, anywhere. It sufficed in an effort to keep the merry holidays going. I know it was a big seller because often it would be out and I would ask the store manager when it came in; return that day & be the first to grab 4 cans or more. Next day, they would be sold out until the next truck delivery.

[shuffleoff]

12:13 PM on 11/27/2010

The Silk Nog is the best...much healthier and doesn't make you toot!

[Rozanna]

12:25 AM on 11/28/2010

I was just going to say Silk Nog is the best.

[wishmehere]

01:49 AM on 11/27/2010

It is so cool to see that two of the top three voted here are vegan, cruelty-free products! Disease ridden raw egg and puss and blood filled milk for the holidays? No thank you very much!

[kareemachan]

12:57 PM on 11/27/2010

None of these were made with raw eggs. Duh.

[Crows]

11:09 PM on 11/24/2010

A couple of years ago I stopped buying Silk Egg Nog because it is too delicious. When it was in my house I couldn't leave it alone.

[Angelus2007]

07:26 PM on 11/26/2010

I like Silk Nog, I don't usually like the soy milks, there is a funny taste to me, but regular milk egg nog is too thick. I would always go like half-half egg nog and milk. The silk nog basically does that for me.

[Amanda Donovan]

02:11 PM on 11/24/2010

last year when i was pregnant with my son, i would POUND a quart of the silk soy nog out in my car. i just bought my first box of it today now that its back in the stores. its still pretty tasty, but as anyone who has been pregnant will tell you, theres no feeling like a pregnant craving being satisfied.

[Montana 123]

05:58 PM on 11/24/2010

Yep. With each of my kids my cravings were different.

[Bobafit]

08:50 AM on 11/24/2010

I just picked up the Silk Nog and it was exactly what I was hoping it to be. Not as thick as traditional nog and a lot less fat/cals (both of which are great). Good stuff!

[PLDgyrl]

01:03 AM on 11/24/2010

The best egg nog I ever had is from this dairy in my home town in PA. This stuff is so freaking good. It tastes like melted ice cream. I have never had any other egg nog that could even come close to it. I don't even bother with the store bought ones.

[xstevejx]

07:33 AM on 11/24/2010

Well, egg nog is pretty much ready-to-use ice cream (frozen custard) base as-is (real egg nog, that is, not the 'fake' stuff), so it should taste somewhat like melted ice cream.

[Havana Thinks]

04:22 AM on 12/07/2010

Well, thanks 4 sharing------could you tell us what the name is????? or were you just bragging! "This stuff" doesn't seem to fly when I ask for it in the store!!!

[themainpoint]

11:25 PM on 11/23/2010

Organic valley is great. Silk, on the other hand, likes to pull fast ones. They had their organic soymilk in a red container for years, then began putting non-organic and I think genetically modified soymilk in the very same container. They only changed the small word "organic" to "natural," but of course loyal customers used to grabbing the red carton didn't think they needed to read the label each time.

[jsarets]

09:24 PM on 11/23/2010

Eggnog is basically unfrozen ice cream with an egg white foam whisked in. It's pretty much impossible to get the frothy texture from a commercial eggnog because the foam isn't stable in liquid form. The only way to get close is to deliver the product as an eggnog ice cream with instructions to let thaw before serving.

Quick and dirty eggnog:

Melt a 1.75-quart container of french vanilla ice cream. Add 3 oz bourbon (optional) and 1 tsp grated nutmeg. In a non-plastic mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup pasteurized liquid egg whites to soft peaks, add 1 Tbsp sugar, and continue beating to stiff peaks. Gently whisk egg white foam into melted ice cream mixture.

That's it. Too easy not to do at home and so much better than the cartoned impostors.

[Sydracer]

07:47 AM on 11/24/2010

Thanks for the recipe. Eggnog is one thing I've never tried to make, until now.

[antaeus]

08:04 AM on 11/24/2010

Thanks for this; I shall try it. You prefer bourbon over brandy or amber rum?

[Farro]

08:57 PM on 11/23/2010

One thing I really hate is that I can't find any good recipes for non-alcoholic eggnog--where you can easily just add alcohol afterwards. I'd love to make homemade eggnog, but I don't drink (but I like the nonalcoholic stuff), and I can't find any decent sans alcohol recipes online...

[jsarets]

09:40 PM on 11/23/2010

Just follow any eggnog recipe and omit the bourbon. I prefer this one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/eggnog-recipe2/index.html

You might want to add 1tsp of vanilla extract to mimic the oak character of the bourbon (imitation vanilla extract is made from oak). The uncooked version is easier and more traditional and perfectly safe if you use pasteurized shell eggs. The cooked custard version is thicker and more like a milkshake.

[raker]

12:56 PM on 11/24/2010

I think there's a product called rum extract. Maybe that's the solution for getting the flavor without the alcohol.

[coblstone]

07:35 PM on 11/23/2010

Rice Nog? Soy Nog? Oh Hell Nog!

[Travis Bickle]

06:32 PM on 11/23/2010

Silk Nog ftw 2g of fat, no saturated, and a lot less cals than your average nog. Best part is that it doesn't even taste watered down in the least. Bah, gonna go get some right now.

[Charity]

06:37 PM on 11/23/2010

LOL - I think you've convinced me too!

[jsarets]

08:33 PM on 11/23/2010

The consistency comes from carageenan, a sulfated polysacharride extracted from red seaweed whose partial digestion products have been shown to cause ulceration, inflammation, and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. In recent years, commercial nondairy milks have become more dilute (low in protein and fat), basically sugar-waters which rely on added stabilizers to mimic the viscosity of even nonfat dairy milk.

[NyJimbo]

10:28 PM on 11/23/2010

You must be alot of fun at parties.

[howeverfaraway]

06:03 PM on 11/23/2010

Mmmmm! Love dunking gingersnaps in eggnog!

[rcmfla]

05:30 PM on 11/23/2010

The best egg nog I've ever had is the Farm Store brand sold at Farm Store. It's not seasoned or artificial flavored. It's hard to find, but it's real egg nog. When you get it home you season it to your taste and include your booze of choice. Everything else you'll taste is a bad imitation.

[Charity]

06:33 PM on 11/23/2010

Oh, wow, I used to love Farm Store egg nog. Haven't had it in years since I moved to a city with no Farm Stores! Not too heavy, not too light. It was great!