Egg Nog

I subscribe to the no-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving rule, but I bent that rule to the point of breaking last week. I bought a carton of egg nog. Egg Nog is the nectar of the gods. It is very important to understand, however, that different brands of egg nog taste completely different. Here's the breakdown of the brands I've tried, from best to worst:

1. Æ (Anderson Erickson)
   

   Æ is the taste. It is the (literal) gold standard to which all other egg nogs must be compared. Manhattan, Kansas has some serious problems, and one of them is that Æ dairy products are nowhere to be found. Ten months out of the year I couldn't care less, but for the three weeks I'm here after Thanksgiving, it is a constant annoyance.

2. Southern Comfort
   

   This is the only acceptable substitute I have found for Æ. Props to my roommate Paul for introducing me to it. (It's not alcoholic, in case you're wondering.) It's good, but is not as buttery and delicious as the benchmark.

3. Roberts Dairy
   
   
   [Finding photos of particular brands of egg nog is surprisingly difficult.]

   Not great. It's a little bit chalky and bland. I've had a few other generic dairy egg nogs, and they all taste similar to Roberts.

4. Land O'Lakes
   

   I can't find this on Land O'Lakes' website anymore, so that's a good sign. This is not egg nog. It tastes like glue. I don't know what it's made from, but I remember checking the ingredients to see what made it so terrible.

If you think that you don't like egg nog, but don't know what brand it was that you tried, I really encourage you to give it another chance with SoCo or Æ. They really are in a different league. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that I have tried some homemade egg nog, and the taste was much closer to my two favorite brands than the other stuff.