Tea and Eggnog: A Wonderful Combination

Eggnog is a funny drink. Everyone serves it during Holiday Parties and it seems like a lot of people go through a yearly ritual with it.

With the first cup, you wonder why eggnog is only for the Holidays since it is so delicious. You start guzzling it.
On the 3rd cup, you feel a bit queasy and start to look for places to put your cup down
By the next morning you swear you will never drink the stuff again (until next year's Holiday Party comes along)

Why do people have this love/hate relationship with eggnog?

Since I am not an eggnog historian, that is difficult to say. But, in my opinion, eggnog is way too thick and rich. It is made with a lot of cream and eggs and I personally cannot handle that much richness in my drinks. However, the flip side of it is that eggnog is very tasty. It is this same richness that acts almost like a dessert that gets you a bit tipsy because of the rum. So what we are looking for here is a way to cut down on the creamy richness of eggnog while keeping the delicious flavor. Luckily, there is a solution.

Mixing eggnog with tea makes it lighter while keeping the wonderful flavor

As I am sure you can guess, the solution to this problem is tea. While a lot of teas work well, I have found that Chai does a fantastic job when combined with eggnog. The tea helps to thin out the cream and eggs and since Chai has a lot of similar ingredients (like cinnamon and clove) the rich spiciness is still the star of the drink.

Here is an easy way to make a tea eggnog

The best thing about making tea eggnog is the fact it is so easy to make. All you need to do is the following:

Make 1 cup of tea
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar
Add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
Mix with 1/2 cup of heated eggnog (alcohol optional)

But doesn't tea make eggnog watery?

Not at all. While you will not have the almost cream-like consistency of regular eggnog, a tea infused eggnog will still have enough thickness to satisfy even the biggest eggnog purists. The consistency of this drink will be more along the lines of a coffee latte. And, in my opinion, I much prefer the consistency to that of a traditional eggnog.

Summary

If you are in the love/hate eggnog cycle, you may want to try a tea infused eggnog. It is easy to make, lighter to drink but still as tasty as ever. And hopefully now you can drink eggnog and not curse it the next morning!

photo: www.flickr.com/photos/awrose/4213612527