It's eggnog season. The boozy beverage dates back to medieval England but remains a holiday hit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — At Scoma’s Restaurant in San Francisco, this holiday season 's batch of eggnog began 11 months ago.

The process typically starts in late January, just after the previous year's celebrations are over. Nearly a thousand egg yolks, gallons upon gallons of heavy cream and roughly $1,000 worth of vanilla beans are mixed with sugar and a mega-cocktail of sherry, brandy and aged rum. The concoction is then stored at 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) and and gets stirred weekly for months.

Is it worth the wait? Customer Phil Kenny seems to think so.

“It’s a wonderful, specialty drink," Kenny said of Scoma's recipe, which has been honed in recent years to take advantage of the boozy beverage’ s aging process. "This takes eggnog to a different level.”

Kenny and his wife, Laurie, aren't the only ones enjoying it this year.

“A drink that you would sort of associate with grandma and grandpa on the holidays has become like a cult favorite here," Gordon Drysdale, Scoma’s culinary director, said earlier this month. "We did not ever anticipate people actually being mad at us because we didn’t have it.”

Eggnog's roots date back to medieval England and a drink called “posset,” which included hot milk or cream, alcohol and spices. Recipes have evolved in the centuries since then, and non-dairy and alcohol-free options abound in recent years. But some — like the formula for the famous eggnog daiquiri at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans — stay the same, and remain secret.

“I like to say it’s a little Christmas magic," said Jamie Gourges, marketing manager for the open-air bar in the city's iconic French Quarter. “We do not disclose any of our recipes at any point but it is delicious.”

Gourges will say, though, that theirs is made fresh each morning from right after Thanksgiving until Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, on Jan. 6. It's a tradition going back some 20 years at an establishment that was built in the early 1700s. Naturally, it's haunted by French pirate and privateer Jean Lafitte, who based his smuggling operations near New Orleans.

Terry Wittmer, who lives in the Big Easy, is a regular customer and loves the holiday season at the bar.

“It tastes like Christmas. It’s a little cinnamon-y. It’s smooth and if you drink it too fast you might get a brain freeze,” Wittmer said. “I live a block away so I’m here every day but I’m happier during Christmas.”

Even for tourists who came for the bar's signature "purple drank” daiquiri, the holiday beverage beckons.

"It’s not going to have a problem going down, let’s put it that way,” Cheryl Abrigo of Florida said as she sipped hers.

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Smith reported from New Orleans and Dazio reported from Los Angeles.

A glass of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Jamie Gourgues, marketing manager of Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, prepares an eggnog daiquiri in New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith)

Bottle of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

A glass of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

An eggnog daiquiri is shown at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith)

Phil and Laurie Kenny drink eggnog at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2024. The eggnog is prepared 11 months in advance. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Laurie Kenny takes a sip of eggnog at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2024. The eggnog is prepared 11 months in advance. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Matt Rempe of the New York Rangers has been offered an in-person hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety to discuss his boarding and elbowing of Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.

The in-person hearing, which can be held via Zoom as opposed to a phone call, allows senior vice president of player safety George Parros and his department to suspend Rempe for six or more games. The time and date of the hearing is to be determined, the league said Saturday.

Rempe, a 6-foot-8 forward, became a fan favorite last season in his rookie year for fighting some of the toughest veteran big men in a throwback to vintage enforcers who largely have disappeared from hockey. But he also ran afoul of the rules, getting ejected twice and receiving a four-game suspension for one of those situations: an elbow to the head of New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler.

That history factors in on the length of the suspension, along with injury and intent on the play that occurred with 13 minutes left in the third period Friday night. Heiskanen returned to skate four more shifts after going through concussion protocol, according to Stars coach Peter DeBoer, who called it a dangerous hit.

The game at Dallas was Rempe’s first back in the NHL after being recalled from the minors following the Rangers' trade of winger Kaapo Kakko to Seattle. Rempe spent the summer training to become a better fighter but also worked to become a better all-around player.

Now 22, Rempe has spent the vast majority of the season with Hartford of the American Hockey League. He played less than six minutes in the 3-1 win against the Stars, after which Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters he thought Rempe “had a big impact on the game.”

“I’d like to stay away from the 5-minute major, but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game,” Laviolette said. "Our guys really rallied around that at the end.”

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) slaps the puck away on an attack by New York Rangers' Matt Rempe (73) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

New York Rangers center Matt Rempe (73) controls the puck on an attack as Dallas Stars' Lian Bichsel, front right, attempts to break up the play in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

New York Rangers center Matt Rempe (73) is escorted to the penalty box by official Tommy Hughes, before being ejected for game misconduct, in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

New York Rangers center Matt Rempe (73) leaves the game after being ejected for game misconduct in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

New York Rangers center Matt Rempe (73), who was ejected for game misconduct, slams Dallas Stars' Miro Heiskanen (4) against the boards in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)