Whether you love it or hate it, eggnog is hard to avoid this time of year. You can buy a carton of the stuff next to your favorite alt-milk, try variations like Cremas or Coquito, and even age a homemade batch alongside your annual fruitcake. Holiday beers with flavors reminiscent of the polarizing beverage are out there, and you can find references to “Beer Nog” on the internet dating back over a decade. So when NYC’s Bar Snack, a spot with Irish bona fides, shared its Guinness Eggnog on Instagram, we were intrigued.
Bar Snack is no stranger to cocktails inspired by sweets — the menu has included a Phish Food Old Fashioned, a cannoli-inspired sour, and a root beer float shake with coconut Fernet. The team also knows how to pour a mean pint and use Guinness in a mixed drink like the crowd-pleasing Split Ends, a Whiskey Sour with fresh raspberries that’s topped with the stout. So a Guinness-spiked nog felt like a logical addition to the winter menu
Owner Iain Griffiths explains that the goal was “to create something that drinks like a ‘cocktail nog’ as opposed to something you need a spoon to finish.” To accomplish this, the team starts with a typical custard base of heavy cream, milk, and spices that’s heated and then slowly added to egg yolks and sugar to temper. Once combined, the base is warmed to thicken and whisked to fully emulsify.
After it’s removed from the heat, the Guinness is stirred in, 2 to 3 ounces per serving. The cocktail is then strained and bottled. “This definitely tastes best when rested for three days and lasts for up to 10,” Griffiths says, though the team has yet to experiment with further aging.
To serve, Bar Snack uses a classic takeout coffee cup and pours the aged mix over crushed ice. Fresh nutmeg is grated on top, and a straw completes the picture. As the bar’s Instagram caption says, this is a “crushable cocktail,” not your grandma’s thick dairy-bomb.
Another advantage to making this eggnog yourself is that you can use Guinness 0, one of our favorite NA beers, for a zero-proof version with the same flavor. Stop by Bar Snack through the holiday season for a taste, or try your hand at making the combo at home.
