Amp Up The Fall Flavors In Store-Bought Eggnog With One Easy Spice

If there's one beverage that signals the start of the holiday season, it's eggnog. While store-bought eggnog is a great option if you're making eggnog for a crowd or you want to devote your time to festive activities rather than culinary endeavors, the flavor of the stuff you'll find in the grocery store can often fall flat. While you might associate eggnog with winter, fall flavors are your friend when it comes to making store-bought eggnog taste better. Pumpkin spice is all you need to transform store-bought nog into something even more delicious.

Pumpkin spice is a warming blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice. Most store-bought eggnog already contains hints of these spices, but they're often overpowered by sugar and other ingredients — which is why adding a few dashes of pumpkin spice works so well. Opting for store-bought pumpkin spice saves you from having to buy each spice individually or worrying about the ratio of spices in your cup, but you can always make homemade pumpkin spice if you want to customize your blend.

When you're adding pumpkin spice to a glass of eggnog, it's a good idea to start with just a few dashes. Taste it, and slowly add more until it reaches your desired level of tasty fall flavor. Be sure to mix well, since you want the spice blend to be dispersed evenly throughout the thick liquid. You can also sprinkle a little on the top of your glass after you've mixed it (and added the alcohol of your choice if you're making spiked eggnog) as a festive final touch.

Although spices have a long shelf life, they can go bad. If you haven't used your jar of pumpkin spice in several autumns, make sure it's not expired before adding it to your eggnog (old spices tend to lose flavor). Since pumpkin spice is, in fact, a blend, not all brands are going to taste the same. Some contain more cloves, which can be overpowering, while others feature more ginger, which gives it a spicier flavor. There's no wrong type of pumpkin spice here, but be sure you enjoy the overall flavor of the blend you're using before adding it to your glass.