When it comes to holiday drinks, most people think of Egg Nog or Hot Buttered Rum. Both of these drinks can be delicious if prepared correctly, but it’s easy to get bored with these same drinks time and again throughout the holiday season.

My favorite holiday drink is actually a very old classic cocktail made with egg, sugar, milk, cognac, and rum called Tom and Jerry. One of the great things about this drink is that the “batter” can be easily prepared in advance (add a ½ teaspoon of soda water to the batter to help keep it sweet and prevent separation if you are preparing it well in advance). The batter for Tom and Jerry also scales very well. You can easily use as little as one egg or a whole dozen, depending on how much you need. Some add vanilla extract to the batter, or for a spicier mix you can add little ground allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. The batter does best when it’s put in the fridge to rest for a while.

For making my Tom and Jerry, I used the recipe from Cocktail Boothby’s “American Bartender,” published in 1891. It’s a wonderfully charming recipe:

Tom and Jerry

To make this celebrated beverage, a batter must first be prepared in the following manner. Procure any number of eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the whites until stiff and the yolks until thin; then pour both together into a large bowl and mix with enough sugar to make a thick paste. Your batter is now ready, so when you wish to make a Tom and Jerry, rinse out a mug, cup or glass with boiling water (this is done to heat it), place a heaping teaspoonful of the batter into the hot mug (mugs are generally used to serve this drink), add a jigger (1 1/2 oz) of cognac and a dash of St. Croix (Dark) rum, fill the glass with hot milk (some use hot water), and stir until the batter is all dissolved, grate nutmeg on top and serve.

Depending on when I’m serving it, I’ll either use hot milk or a mixture of ½ hot milk and ½ hot water. The drink can also be made with equal parts Cognac and Rum (1 oz of Cognac and 1 oz of Dark Rum) or whiskey can be substituted for the Cognac.

The Tom and Jerry may not be an extremely well-known holiday drink, but it is one of the best. It’s one of those great drinks that’s easy to make, can be easily prepped in advance, and has enough variations that you’ll be enjoying it long after the holiday season has come and gone