Tom and Jerry cocktail recipe is a classic holiday cocktail drink that is enjoyed by many starting with the Thanksgiving holiday all the way to New Year’s day. The main ingredients of the Tom and Jerry batter is made of beaten eggs, sugar, and vanilla. A healthy scoop of the batter is added to the cup, then hot water, and the liquor of your choice (rum, brandy or whiskey) is stirred in. The Tom and Jerry cocktail is finally topped with a dash of nutmeg. The taste is best described as drinking a warm Christmas sugar cookie. Once you make your first batch of batter mix, it gets a bit addictive as it is so easy to make and so delicious!

The Tom and Jerry cocktail drink is a Christmas tradition for my family. We have been making Tom and Jerry drinks to mark the Christmas season for as long as I can remember. For some reason, the men in our family like to mix up the batter mix and prepare the cocktails. Maybe it is because they are looking forward to the first cup! Traditionally, we prepare the Tom and Jerry batter and serve up with Whisky to the adults on Christmas Eve. The kids get to enjoy virgin Tom and Jerry’s too so everyone in the family is included. Virgin Tom and Jerry drinks are just as delicious with just the batter mixed with hot water and the liquor is omitted. I can not imagine Christmas without this Tom and Jerry Drink!

Tom and Jerry’s are often mistaken for eggnog – but eggnog it is not! A Tom and Jerry cocktail drink is light with a foamy crown that forms when hot water is stirred into the batter. Tom and Jerry’s have more of a sweet vanilla flavor (hence the feeling of drinking a warm sugar cookie) while eggnog is a thicker/heavier drink. There are no egg whites used to make eggnog foamy and it is more of a milk-based drink with a combination of spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Please check out my Christmas Prime Rib Dinner Menu and Holiday Open House Menu which includes this delicious holiday Tom and Jerry Batter recipe.

History of Tom and Jerry Cocktails: There is debate on the origin of the Tom and Jerry Drink, whether it was invented by a British journalist who named the drink after characters in his popular novel in the 1820’s or if it was invented by an American bartender in 1850 who first published a recipe. The Tom and Jerry drink used to be extremely popular in the United States. For over one hundred years, you could even buy Tom and Jerry drink sets. A resurgence of the drink’s popularity came about in the 1940’s after the World War II. This is most likely due to more families entertaining at home instead of the bars. Special drink sets were sold with a punch bowl for the batter and matching mugs with “Tom and Jerry” written on the bowl and each mug. We do not see Tom and Jerry’s served as much nowadays, but this cocktail still lives on strongly in the Midwest, especially in the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Perhaps it due to the long cold winters in this area of the country. It is very common for Midwesterner’s to find the Tom and Jerry drink batter in their local markets during the holiday season.

Examples of antique Tom and Jerry drink sets from the 1940s