Tom & Jerry Cocktail

Tom & Jerry Cocktail Story

Likely created by British novelist Pierce Egan in the early 1800s, the Tom and Jerry was popularized by legendary bartender Jerry Thomas in his 1862 publication of How to Mix Drinks: or, the Bon-Vivant’s Companion. Thomas had the fortune of sharing a likeness to the drink by name, which resulted in a few amusing but likely fabricated anecdotes about how he named it. On paper, a Tom and Jerry might seem like an egg nog that requires a bit more finesse and labor, and that certainly isn’t wrong. A proper Tom and Jerry requires an intuition for temperature and fine technique that is usually practiced in a kitchen rather than behind a bar. When the egg batter, milk, and spirit are successfully integrated, the Tom and Jerry has a velvety froth that is unlike any egg nog recipe out there. Likely because of the intimidating nature of the preparation, the Tom and Jerry fell out of favor after the turn of the century, when cocktails quickly lapped punches in demand. Around the 1940s, the Tom and Jerry enjoyed an unlikely resurgence thanks to the popularity of ceramic bowl and mug sets bearing the name “Tom and Jerry” on the side of every glazed cup. These appeared during the period of tiki mugs and large animal-shaped decanters, all of which evoked a certain whimsical nostalgia for the things they represented. Perhaps they were meant to eulogize the lost practice of making a Tom and Jerry, but instead, the ceramic sets immortalized it, leading many home entertainers and cocktail historians alike to track down the forgotten recipes and reproduce them once again.