You just need a good/easy recipe. Jeffrey Morganthaler's recipe is pretty darn good and easy: http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2009/egg-nog/.

I'd say it depends on the recipe that you use for your nog. I frankly love mine (I prefer non-alcoholic) and it's one of my few splurges every year. I've only ever found one eggnog-in-the-store that comes close to homemade, and that's from a local-ish dairy and comes in old-fashioned glass milk bottles (and costs a bleeding fortune but soooo worth it). I'm also not squeamish about raw eggs--I eat raw cookie dough etc.--but I'm very careful to keep it COLD.

I find a big difference between store-bought eggnog and the eggnog that my mother makes. The taste is so remarkable when she makes it. I can't stand egg nog from the store. I find it totally worth the effort, and I can't wait to take her recipe and start tweaking it for myself. If we ask "is homemade egg nog worth it?", soon we'll find ourselves asking "is homemade mayonnaise worth it?" It is, if it is made right.

I think you're used to commercial eggnog so it tastes "correct" to you. This reminds me of the time I spent hours making tiny pastries from a recipe my grandmother always used. My then-boyfriend enthusiastically said, "Wow, these are good! They taste just like PopTarts!" Oh.

I'm also chuckling at the "quite eggy" comment. Gee, ya think? That's what eggnog is supposed to taste like. To me commercial eggnog tastes way too sweet. So the sugar probably overpowers the egg taste. And, of course, the homemade stuff probably has a higher proportion of eggs.

The good thing about homemade eggnog is you can have it any time of the year, at the drop of a hat -- or at the drop of an egg into a glass of milk.

Also, one sort of homemade eggnog that's DEFINITELY worth it is the sort where both heavy cream and the egg whites are beaten separately. Then the egg whites and cream are folded into the beaten yolk/sugar/milk mixture and the whole thing is like a sort of soft mousse! I had a friend make that for me once. It's a family recipe and it was A-maze-ing!

I think a lot of it has to do with what you were first exposed to. The first egg nog I ever had was homemade, and I still prefer it. Same with buttermilk -- the real thing is just amazing, and I have never found a "cultured" buttermilk in the grocery that compares. But I have been with folks who grew up with storebought and found natural buttermilk overwhelming (similiar issue regarding "smoothness" as the writer, Megan).

This post reminds me of the "Make or Buy" posts I used to see on The Kitchn, where the author would break down the cost, efforts, and success of the end product in making from scratch food products that many of us just buy at the store (sandwich bread, crackers, mayo). I really enjoyed those. I suggest an eggnog, or other holiday-themed, Make or Buy!

I vote for making it! Once per year, that extra effort for the thick, creamy, full fat goodness is amazing. Plus, for those who are concerned with the source and content of your food: you know what's going in. Organic eggs, real sugar (not HFCS), organic/fresh dairy. I think it is an easy choice.

As others say, it depends on the homemade recipe. If you're drinking my mom's homemade eggnog, you'll be thrilled. That said, I'm not going to go to the trouble and will drink the store-bought stuff most of the time, but I'd be very disappointed if she didn't make the good stuff for xmas eve.

Done well, done right...yes, there is no comparison between store bought and homemade eggnog. And since it's truly something you will only do once a year, yes, it's worth the effort. I would say otherwise if it's something you were making all the time.

Yes, it was worth my mother's effort and now, after she is gone, it is worth my effort!

It is the thing that I do that reminds me of her the most - and that's 'A Good Thing!'

Okay all you people who are saying YES!

Maybe throw a recipe out there so I can experiment?! I am looking forward to making aged nog next year but for now an asap version would be great!

If you care about the quality of your animal products, then yes! If you get fresh eggs from local pastured or free-range chickens (I'm not talking about grocery store bought eggs with this designation), I highly recommend making your own. Worth it!

I don't think that I've ever seen any commercially-produced eggnog being sold around here that isn't gaggingly sweet, so I definitely vote for homemade.

For us, homemade is worth it on rare occasions but that's a rarity that isn't even annual.

I'm with mdorothy (again! : )) in that commercial nog is heavy on the sweeteners. If we overlook that and resort to store bought, we have settled on one that isn't even egg or dairy! It's soynog.

But that choice is influenced by our dislike of how thick authentic homemade nog (to each their own) is. When we've made it ourselves, we always tinker with the recipe to thin it based on whether it's gets lots of ice and boozed up good.

To me is it worth the effort? No. I love carton nog. There is nothing wrong with it. Do I like homemade nog? Sure, but I am not willing to spend the time making it when the carton tastes just as good.

To each their own.

I always find OTC egg nog disappointing. My family's traditional recipe is not nearly as thick (viscus) as carton egg nog. We reserve the whites to make a meringue that floats on the top of the punch bowl. "The Recipe" is not difficult to make but it does produce a huge batch. I'm happy to have it only once a year when Mom makes it.

To complicate matters, my favourite is eierpunsch -- hot eggy-based punch served at some German and Austrian Christmas markets. Never had a home-made version, but since it doesn't exist on this side of the Atlantic, I'm going to have to find one!

Personally, I buy egg nog from a local dairy, but a good friend would whip some up in the blender whenever anyone showed up on his doorstep. It was simple, fast, and quite good -- not as thick and sweet as the bought version (which we often find to be too much, even when thinned with alcohol). But since I really don't need something else to get all Martha about, I stick with bought.

That said, I think I'm going to find a recipe for eierpunsch -- it's much better than our eggnog.

p.s. Would love to find a traditional family recipe for egg nog, if anyone is willing to share! :-)

I sort of feel the opposite of JNS– if it were something I had more than once a year, maybe I'd make it. But because I don't, I see nothing wrong with the local creamery's eggnog, which, yes, is a little pricy, but it's only one bottle a year.

I first made homemade eggnog when the grocery store was sold out around Christmas. I used Alton Brown's recipe and I was blown away with how different homemade eggnog tastes compared to commercial. It's like a completely separate drink.

My mother's (and great-granmother's) egg nog is more than half silky foam. Grocery store egg nog is a completely different product.

My family has a first edition of a very old Betty Crocker cookbook from the late 50s or early 60s. In it there are 3 different recipes for egg nog: regular, hot and spoon-up! I think I made them when I was a kid (I was kind of a gluttonous kid). I would try them again and report back to you....but we have a half drunk carton of eggnog in the fridge already. My dad's co-workers are Puerto Rican and he always gets a couple of bottles of homemade coquito from them - now that stuff is GOOD!

Definitely worth making. The commercial kind we can get here is too sweet and contains HFCS, which I try to avoid at all costs.

I have used a recipe from Sunset Magazine December of 1979 that I like. Can't find it on the web or in their files but here it is as I wrote it.
Boil 2 cups milk and 2 cups half and half, then cool and skim.
Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla. Boil gently 20 minutes. Cool and skim.
Beat 8 egg yolks on high speed for 5 minutes. Add milk and 1/4 to 1/2 cup light run.
Chill overnight.
Makes 1 quart.

2nd vote for Alton Brown's Eggnog recipe. It's REALLY easy - the toughest part is separating the eggs. Definitely not the healthiest, using heavy cream and whole milk, but you really shouldn't be drinking all that much anyway. He puts bourbon straight into the recipe, but I usually leave it out - it's great without it, and people can always add their own choice of alcohol into it later. Also, if you're squeamish about the raw eggs, he's got a cooked version too. Both recipes are here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/eggnog-recipe2/index.html

I drink eggnog but once a year, so I want the really good stuff! Commercial production emphasizes an ultra-smooth consistency that leaves me with an icky feeling - my mouth and throat feel coated. I much prefer homemade eggnog - the base with bourbon, and lightened with unsweetened whipped cream at the very last moment. Wow, that's REALLY good!

Oberweiss eggnog is the absolute best- If I had access to it, I would never consider making eggnog- Our SuperTarget had that and Holly Nog (bleh) one year on the shelf so I brought the Oberweiss home to my hubby and we were in heaven..... I went back to get more and ST was sold out of all eggnog by that point.... When they didn't carry it last year, I emailed the company to find someone else who carried it. I had to get my nog fix.... Sadly, there was NO ONE in Minnesota who carried Oberweiss products that year (or this year)....

So if you are lucky enough to live in the Chicago area ( and I think St Louis)- remember Oberweiss. But make sure you buy multiple bottles when you see them because you will be very sad when the shelves are bare and you want more!

Hook up with someone that is happy to make eggnog. To me carton nog is..boring.