The Tom & Jerry: A Wisconsin Winter Institution
Every December, taverns across Wisconsin bring out their Tom & Jerry batter. Nowhere else does this happen.
In November, roughly the day after the first hard frost, a hand-lettered sign appears in the window of every neighborhood tavern from Kenosha to Superior: 'Tom & Jerrys, $4.' The mugs come out of storage. The batter comes out of the walk-in cooler. The drink is served hot, in a ceramic mug, for the next four months.
Nowhere else in the United States does this happen. Nowhere else has it happened for a hundred years. The Tom & Jerry is Wisconsin's winter beverage in the same way the Brandy Old Fashioned is its year-round one.
What it is
A Tom & Jerry is a hot mixed drink: a spoonful of egg-and-sugar batter, a shot of brandy, a shot of dark rum, and hot water or hot milk on top, dusted with fresh nutmeg. It resembles a hot eggnog but is lighter and less rich because the base is diluted with hot liquid rather than served with cream and egg together.
The batter is where the drink lives. Whole eggs are separated, whites beaten to stiff peaks with sugar, yolks beaten separately with sugar and spices (usually cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg), and the two folded together into a foamy, pale, spiced meringue that keeps in the fridge for a week or two.
History
The recipe is older than Wisconsin. Jerry Thomas — the same 1862 Bon-Vivant's Companion author who codified most of American bartending — takes credit for inventing the drink in the 1850s, though English references to hot 'Tom and Jerry' pubs date to the 1820s.
Wisconsin's specific attachment to the drink dates to the late 19th century, when the state's dense population of German and Norwegian immigrants took to it as a winter warmer. Every Wisconsin tavern of any age has an inherited house batter recipe.
Making a Tom & Jerry at home
For the batter, roughly: 6 eggs, separated. Beat the whites to stiff peaks with 200 g caster sugar. Beat the yolks with 100 g sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, and a pinch of ground clove until pale and thick. Fold the yolks gently into the whites. Refrigerate.
To make the drink: place a heaping tablespoon of batter in a warmed mug. Add 30 ml brandy and 30 ml dark rum. Top with 90–120 ml of hot water or hot milk. Stir gently. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top.
The mug matters. Traditional Tom & Jerry mugs are white porcelain with the drink name painted on the side. They hold heat better than any coffee mug and are shaped so the foam sits proudly at the top.
Milk or water?
Water is traditional and lighter — you taste the spirits and the spices without the milk fat coating them.
Milk is common in the northern half of the state, and the milk version is closer in character to eggnog. Whole milk works; anything lighter than 2% gives a thin drink.
Half water and half milk is a reasonable compromise for anyone unsure. Both versions are heated to just steaming, never boiling — boiling curdles the batter.
Frequently asked
- Is it safe to use raw egg batter?
- The batter contains raw egg. The classical version has enough sugar to inhibit bacterial growth for a week refrigerated. Pasteurized eggs from the carton work if raw egg is a concern.
- Can I skip the rum?
- The two-spirit split is what makes the drink. Brandy alone is thin; rum alone reads too spiced. Split.
- Why doesn't the rest of the country drink these?
- Genuinely unclear. The drink is delicious and easy. It seems to have simply never crossed the state line.