Drink like a President for Christmas

I like looking around the web for different historical drinks. I am not one to always drink the same thing so drinking with a little bit of history can be exciting. I found the following recipe on several websites, the most prominant being www.almanac.com. It is supposedly George Washingtons eggnog recipe that he like to drink when he was celebrating Christmas at Mt. Vernon. In the web article it is listed as the recipe was written in his own words.

George Washington's Eggnog

One quart cream

One quart milk

One dozen tablespoons of sugar

One pint brandy

1/2 pint rye whiskey

1/2 pint Jamaica Rum

1/4 pint sherry

12 eggs

Mix liquor first, then seperate yolks and whites of 12 eggs, add sugar to the beaten yolks, mix well. Add milk and cream, slowly beating. Beat whites of eggs until stiff and fold slowly into mixture. Let set in a cool place for several days. Taste frequently. -George Washington

*ref. - http://www.almanac.com/content/george-washingtons-christmas-eggnog

I found a drink from Thomas Jefferson that may not neccessarily be a Christmas drink but it sounds like something fun and tasty to try. Thomas Jefferson had pomegranate trees planted at Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson's Chrimson Recipe

3/4 ounce Whiskey (ex. Southern Comfort)

3/4 ounce bourbon

3 ounces pomegranate juice

1/2 ounce pomegranate molasses

1/2 ounce lemon juice

Fill the cocktail shaker with ice, add all of the ingredients and shake for 10 seconds.Strain into Collins glass filled with ice.

*ref. - http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/08/serious-entertaining-a-middle-eastern-inspired-feast.html

Ok, so the next drink and the person who created it may not have been a President but he has as much or more influence over the direction of our country as many of our early Presidents. This drink was included in a letter written to James Bowdoin II, in 1763, from Bejamin Franklin.

Ben Franklin’s Milk Punch (Makes 4 to 4½ quarts)

6 cups mid-priced brandy

11 lemons, peels only

4 cups spring water

1 nutmeg, freshly grated

2 cups fresh lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3 cups whole milk

In a large airtight lidded container, combine the brandy and lemon peels. Cover and steep for 24 hours. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the peels from the brandy and discard them. Add the water, nutmeg, lemon juice, and sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves.

In a pan set over medium-low heat, bring the milk to a boil. Immediately add the milk to the brandy mixture and stir. Let stand uncovered for 2 hours–the mixture will curdle as it sits. Strain the mixture through a coffee filter, a clean pillowcase, or a jelly bag if you have one (this may take several hours). Before discarding the curds, squeeze them to extract as much liquid as possible. Use a funnel to transfer the punch to bottles. Before serving, lightly whisk the punch and sprinkle each glass with fresh nutmeg.

*This article appears in the April 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.