By Camper English

I love eggnog and look forward to seeing the stuff pre-made in the carton on store shelves. The problem is that everyone else is so darn afraid of the calories they won’t drink it so I spend holiday parties doing my part to make sure none of it goes to waste. Eggnog is so creamy and rich that it begs to have some booze added to break it up (and kick the party up a notch). People add everything including rum, bourbon, brandy, or cognac to eggnog, and these all taste fine.

This year, I decided I needed to find some eggnog recipes that serve one person so that I don’t feel obligated to drink a whole carton when no one else will indulge. Torani makes flavored syrups that you usually see in coffee shops lining the shelves, but these can also be used in place of simple syrup in cocktails. You can easily make an eggnog latte by combining hot milk with an espresso shot and two tablespoons of Torani’s Italian Eggnog syrup (pictured) but at parties do you really want to bust out the espresso machine? Instead I created a simple cool cocktail version based on those flavors.

Cool Coffee Eggnog

1 oz. Torani Italian Eggnog syrup
1 oz. Van Gogh Double
Espresso Vodka
3 oz. whole milk

Add ingredients to ice-filled shaker, shake and strain into a cocktail glass, or just pour all ingredients into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass and stir.

This next recipe is adapted from the folks at Navan, which is a cognac-based vanilla liqueur made by Grand Marnier and easily substituted for the orange liqueur in drink recipes. (Vanilla cosmo, anyone?) The drink is also served cool and is relatively easy to make. It serves one person, but when you let people try yours you may end up making them for the whole party.

Navan Natural Vanilla Eggnog

1 1/2 oz. Navan liqueur
1 egg
1 1/2 oz. whole milk
1 tsp. superfine sugar
Nutmeg and cinnamon
Whipping cream (optional)

Separate the egg yolk and white into two bowls. Beat the white with one-half teaspoon sugar until peaks form. Beat the yolk with remaining one-half teaspoon sugar until stiff. Gently fold egg white into egg yolk. Add milk and mix gently. Add Navan and mix gently. Pour mixture into an ice-filled cocktail glass. Dust the top with nutmeg and cinnamon. For an optional garnish, add some nutmeg and cinnamon to whipping cream and beat until stiff, then top the drink with it.