In the upper class homes of old England, even dating back to Elizabethan times, a surplus of eggs and milk meant it was time for EggNog. After all, before refrigeration storing eggs and milk from the farm was a challenge. So, the upper class folks would mix the eggs, milk and add a heavy dose of readily available brandy or sherry.
Across the sea, in a land plentiful with farms and dairy products, the American colonists too made eggnog to save their ingredients before they spoiled. The Americans kept the original recipe alive, but replaced the brandy with rum, which was readily available and not as highly taxed as brandy or other European spirits.
Enter Gail Borden in 1851, a determined entrepreneur who set out to develop a commercially viable method for preserving milk as a means of preventing spoilage. Borden experimented with a copper vacuum condenser after seeing Shakers use a vacuum pan to condense fruit juice. After much trial and error, Borden found that heating and vaporizing water from milk in airtight vacuum pans would produce a concentrated product that would not spoil. Gail Borden’s first product, condensed milk was born. Milk could now be packaged to remain fresh for days without refrigeration and transported across land or sea without spoiling..
Gail Borden held his farmers to the highest sanitary and cleanliness requirements. These standards were recognized by the Committee of the Academy of Medicine as being “unequaled in purity, durability and economy.” That’ why Elsie the cow, the Borden “spokes-cow” since 1939, is always so clean, shiny and eternally happy!
It wasn’t long before Borden EggNog appeared on the shelves of the refrigerator section of the market, usually during the Holiday season, much to the delight of EggNog consumers everywhere. Gone were the days of preparing Eggnog at home and the need for hurried consumption for fear of spoilage. Now, sighed consumers, if only EggNog was available year round...
Fast forward to today. Borden EggNog is no longer a seasonal, refrigerated drink. Borden EggNog is now shelf stable and available year round, in convenient Tetra Pak® cartons that are guaranteed fresh for 15 months. It’s true! The same great taste consumers get from the refrigerator is now available on the supermarket shelves. So if anyone asks you what you get when you cross a drink of old, America’s first milkman and a smiling cow named Elsie, the answer is the delicious wholesomeness that is Borden EggNog!