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The Black History of Eggnog
The spiced drink parallels America’s fraught history with African Americans
Creamy, aromatic eggnog is a staple in American homes during the winter — we consume an estimated 135 million pounds per year, to be exact. Whether served in mugs at holiday parties or paired with whiskey, rum, or brandy, the beverage inevitably makes an appearance on drink menus around Christmastime.
But how the drink’s popularity spiked, and who increased its visibility on a national stage is, like many things, intertwined with America’s fraught history with African Americans.
Food historian Fred Opie of Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, has studied eggnog for years, and he expects dozens of calls about the contentious drink right around the holidays.
“Either you love it, you hate it, but it’s always at this time of the year,” Opie said. “It’s just one of those seasonal drinks.”
While the drink has origins in white, British aristocracy — commoners wouldn’t have had access to key ingredients like fresh milk and eggs. Others like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom, were quite expensive. The liquors used, such as brandy, whiskey, rum, and sherry, added to the richness of the drink. Yet even with these elitist roots, across the Atlantic in the 18th century, it became popular in American taverns and homes.
Cato Alexander, a Black beverage expert, picked up on the affinity for the spiced holiday favorite and turned it into a tool for wealth by catering to a mostly white clientele. Born into slavery in 1780, Alexander was eventually freed and began working in restaurants, inns, and taverns. He moved to New York City, and around 1810 opened Cato’s, a bar at East 54th Street and 2nd Avenue. Signature dishes included fried chicken, roast duck, and curried oysters, and Alexander made a good living selling drinks like brandy juleps and gin cocktails to powerful white men, including George Washington. His fame spread throughout town, eventually reaching a New York newspaper, which posed the question, “Who has not heard of Cato Alexander? Not to know Cato’s is not to know the world.” However, even with this fame, few know that one of his most famous drinks was eggnog — also a moneymaker for him.
