The tradition of drunken Christmas revelry fermented in the 17th century. Each year’s brew of wine and beer became ready to drink around Christmas. The best game was also caught during these winter months, and because it needed to be salted and saved, Christmas was about the only time fresh meat was available. It was a luxurious commodity only the rich could afford.
It became customary for a community’s young men to go “wassailing” on New Years Day. They visited the houses of their family, friends and the town’s elite, receiving at each abode a bit of meat and an alcoholic drink. The wealthy benefactors were obliged to share their bounty in order to win the loyalty of the lower class and preserve the social structure, so the young men sang and made merry, becoming more and more inebriated after each visit. The man who completed his holiday rounds was revered by his intoxicated peers.
In this precursor to Christmas caroling, the drink most often served was the Tom and Jerry — a frothy potion made from egg, milk, brandy and spices. The creamy brew derived its name from a mixed drink in Pierce Egan’s 1821 night-life guide “Life in London, or The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq. and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom.”
Egan, a journalist who wrote about sports and pop culture, was one of the first people to write about the London low life. His book chronicles the carousing of London’s rich, young Regency men, who were infamous for breaking windows, tormenting people on the street and overall roguish behavior. The book and its namesake drink became so popular that “Tom and Jerry” became slang for a low beer hall or for generally riotous behavior.
(In the early 1930s, Van Beuren Studios adopted Tom and Jerry as the names for a Laurel and Hardy-type cartoon duo. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cat-and-mouse tomfoolery began in the ‘40s, and in 1957, high school mates Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel also claimed the names, performing together as Tom and Jerry on “American Bandstand.”)
Except for holiday wassailing, the drink was confined to the upper class in England; poor London-folk could rarely afford milk. In America, however, farms and dairies were plentiful, and the drink gained popularity and a new name — eggnog.
The word “noggin” was used in 1500s Europe to denote a small, carved wooden drinking vessel, and the word “grog,” often used in Australia, typically denoted a rum-and-water drink. “Egg and grog in a noggin” was a mouthful, and the name was shortened. George Washington bragged that only the most courageous men could drink his eggnog. It was a stiff drink — his mixture included rye whiskey, sherry and rum — and he was very fond of his holiday grog. The American tradition of mixing holiday cheer with booze in a smooth, foamy concoction of whipped egg, milk, cream, sugar and spice didn’t begin with the country’s first president.
(Variations on the term “grog” include “grog-blossom,” a redness or pimple on the nose caused by excessive drinking and “seven-water grog,” which sailors contemptuously called a particularly weak drink.)
Now gourmet eggnog is sold in liquor stores, ready to spike, for around $6 a bottle. But for those who would have been poor young wassailers, it’s easy to make the tipsy milkshake for about half that price.
Glogg
Glogg (Swedish: Glögg, Norwegian: Gløgg, Danish: Gløgg, Finnish: Glögi) is the Scandinavian version of vin chaud or mulled wine. The main ingredients are (usually red) wine spices such as cinnamon and cloves, and optionally also stronger spirits such as vodka or even cognac. The mixture is prepared by heating, but it is not allowed to boil in order for the alcohol not to evaporate. Glögg is generally served with raisins and almonds, and is a popular warm drink during the Christmas season.
In Denmark gløgg is traditionally served during the Christmas season with æbleskiver (apple dumplings) sprinkled with powdered sugar and accompanied with strawberry marmalade.
Wassail
Wassail is a spiced punch drunk at Twelfth Night and Christmas celebrations. Wassail is most commonly recognized as an obscure reference in various traditional Christmas carols (for example, “Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green”). The term derived from the Old English wes hál, meaning “be in good health,” and was originally used as a toast, the appropriate response being “drink-hail!”
While the beverage typically served as “wassail” at modern holiday feasts with a medieval theme most closely resembles mulled cider, historical wassail was completely different, more likely to be mulled beer. Sugar, ale, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon would be placed in a bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast as sops. Hence the first stanza of the traditional carol the Gloucestershire Wassail dating back to the Middle Ages:
Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink to thee.
Today, many microbreweries produce a beverage very similar to wassail – spiced beer – during the winter months.
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine, also known by the German name Glühwein, the French name vin chaud, and the Italian name vin brulè, is wine, usually red wine, combined with spices and usually served hot. In Italy, this beverage is typically drunk in the northern, more Germanic part of the country.
In the old times wine often went bad, but by adding spices and honey it could be made drinkable again. Nowadays it is a traditional drink during winter, and especially around Christmas, to warm you up.
Glogg (Swedish: Glögg, Norwegian: Gløgg, Danish: Gløgg, Finnish: Glögi) is the Scandinavian form of mulled wine, similar to Glühwein in German-speaking countries. Glühwein is usually prepared from (not too expensive) red wine, which is heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves and sugar.
If you add orange juice to it, you get a form of punch.
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