French 75s, Granny Sherry & the Night Eggnog Exploded: A Christmas Day in Drinks

After a bit of a break, Intoxicating History is back. Tom Parker Bowles and Henry Jeffreys return with a full day’s worth of Christmas drinking, from breakfast bubbles to late-night nog. We kick things off with champagne, charting its journey from syrupy Russian favourite to the dry style loved in Britain, and the Victorian habit of happily mixing it with gin. From there, its’ a dive into the Buck’s Fizz, its scandalous origins at Buck’s Club, and the cameo champagne cocktails in Casablanca — including the wonderfully lethal French 75, and the surprising origin story of its name… Next up is sherry: Bristol Cream, sweetened amontillado, Dickensian purism, and the enduring British belief that “granny sherry” is still the drink of Christmas. Baileys follows — born from tax incentives, Jameson whiskey, Cadbury’s drinking chocolate, and a chemist who miraculously kept cream stable in a bottle. Finally, crashed in front of the telly, we journey into the wild world of eggnog and the utterly chaotic 1826 West Point Eggnog Riot, when drunken cadets caused custard-coloured festive devastation. A warm, funny, and deeply boozy Christmas special brought to you by Wylde Market, the online farmers’ market.

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