Last month, as the weather dipped and the days got shorter, eggnog returned to the dairy aisle. I found myself pouring a glass at home and topping it with just a splash of brandy. The creamy elixir inspired! Soon I was researching if there were any bars in lower Manhattan offering eggnog this season. With few definitive results, I began to crowdsource. Sitting at an Irish pub in Sunnyside, I asked my group of friends if any of them liked the holiday classic. Silence. Then one friend offered, “My husband makes it every year, but I don’t have it.”
The history of eggnog dates back to 13th-century Europe, when monks in Britain would drink a warm ale punch made with eggs and figs. Today, eggnog recipes typically involve adding milk, cream, sugar, and sometimes booze, to beaten eggs, alongside some warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. My personal favorite recipe is from a Martha Stewart Facebook video post in which she smirks as she reminds viewers to limit the beverage to one per person. As one commenter notes, “if you light a cigarette after cooking your house will explode.”
Trying to gain a new eggnog fan, I described the beverage to a friend, who said it sounded like I was drinking melted ice cream and that he had no interest in trying it himself. He isn’t alone. Eggnog’s high fat percentage, concerns about drinking raw eggs, and waning consumption of dairy milk have all contributed to the decline in the drink’s popularity over the years. And yet, some of us eggnoggers cling on to this seasonal treat, despite the deleterious combination of saturated fat and liquor.
From historic restaurants like Pete’s Tavern or Rolf’s, to modern cocktail bars like The Dead Rabbit, there is a conspicuous lack of eggnog on seasonal menus. Several holiday pop-up bars do offer eggnog—like Frosty’s Christmas, which offers coquito (eggnog’s Puerto Rican cousin) and Miracle on 9th Street—but I consider paying a cover charge to visit a themed bar unconstitutional. Reddit users noted that Waterfront Ale House on 2nd Avenue once offered a popular eggnog, but the bar closed in 2023 (I later learned that Crooked Lane, which opened in the same location, is serving eggnog). At Double Down Saloon, a dive on Avenue A, I confirmed that right before Christmas they serve something called assnog—their version of eggnog, which uses their mystery shot as the liquor of choice (yikes). Finally, my search brought me to Loreley Beer Garden.
Check out Loreley Beer Garden
Located on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side, Loreley is not a very New York bar—it’s not hip, nor is it historic. In fact, it doesn’t stand out much at all. I probably would never have stopped in had I not been on the hunt for such an apparently unpopular beverage. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the helpful staff, excellent beer and wine menu, and the sausage and schnitzel-laden food menu. It’s nearly as decorated as many of the Christmas bars, but without a cover, and there’s a fair amount of space, divided between a small bar area, a dining area, and a covered heated beer garden.
Sitting at the bar, I ordered an eggnog and watched as they prepared it—filling a glass mug with ice, then covering it with a mixture of Hood eggnog and Captain Morgan. A few spices were added in, then it was topped with Reddi-wip, a drizzle of caramel, and a cinnamon stick. Christmas music played as the bartender confirmed that on weekends, they sell about 200 eggnogs in an evening.
A waitress took an eggnog and a couple of other drinks to a table in the back. Finding the recipient, I asked her thoughts on the cocktail. She and her friends had come in from southern New Jersey specifically for the festive bar. While she loved eggnog, neither of her friends were fans: “I feel like it’s more of a drink that you had to have grown up with. Like, my parents drank it… they passed it down.” I thanked her for chatting, then texted my friend whose husband makes eggnog. Within minutes she replied—his parents bought it every year. Now that I think about it, so did mine.
