When most people think of Egg Nog, they simply think of the cardboard cartons tht they can get at the grocery store. I suppose you can develop a taste for that if you want, but I would prefer that you try at least once to make your own from scratch. It isn't terribly difficult, and I think it tastes a LOT better.
And while it might sound counter intuitive, aged Egg Nog is even better. Just mix it up and put it in the fridge for a few weeks, or even longer.
Another issue that might concern many when thinking about a drink made with raw eggs, has to do with the potential issues of salmonella. I am not a scientist, nor do I play one on TV, but these two videos from Ira Flatow's "Science Friday" website might give you some useful guidance and insight:
Another Reason to Spike that Eggnog
(http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/another-reason-to-spike-that-eggnog-2/)
It is a question on the minds of many people this season: will adding alcohol to the homemade eggnog safeguard against salmonella? To find out, Science Friday teamed up with eggnog expert and microbiologist Vince Fischetti, who agreed to run some tests in his lab at The Rockefeller University.
And a followup/related video:
Yet Another Reason to Spike That Eggnog
(http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/yet-another-reason-to-spike-that-eggnog/)
A perennial holiday dilemma: will alcohol kill the bacteria in homemade eggnog? Microbiologists Vince Fischetti and Raymond Schuch, from The Rockefeller University, ran an experiment in the lab to see whether salmonella can survive in a vat of spiked eggnog.
It has also become fashionable lately to "age" your eggnog. Since the above research appears to indicate that the salmonella fighting properties of alcohol increase with time, this just increases the rationale for this approach. While I haven't really looked into this yet myself (hard to resist drinking my eggnog immediately!), others have.
