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The Tom and Jerry Winter Warmer
This heart-warming cocktail will leave you longing for a fireplace and a frost-covered window.
Invented in the early 1850s by “Professor” Jerry Thomas — the Bolívar of American drinking — at the Planters’ House hotel, St. Louis, the Tom and Jerry was a winter favourite for a century.
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 bottle brandy
- Pinch of ground allspice
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 1 bottle dark rum
- milk
- nutmeg
Method
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until they form a stiff froth, and the yolks — to which you have added the sugar — “until they are as thin as water,” as the professor advises, gradually adding 4 ounces brandy (spiceaholics will also add a pinch each of ground allspice, cinnamon, and cloves). Fold the whites into the yolks. When ready to serve, give it another stir and then put 1 tablespoon of this batter in a small mug or tumbler. Now add 1 ounce brandy (although some die-hard Dixiecrats prefer bourbon) and 1 ounce Jamaican rum, stirring constantly to avoid curdling. Fill to the top with hot milk and stir until you get foam. Sprinkle a little grated nutmeg on top. This one may require practice and a certain amount of fiddling, but it’s well worth the effort. Note: Some people find the milk too rich and filling, so they use half hot milk, half boiling water.
