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Put the ice cream out to soften. In a large punch bowl, whisk egg yolks with a few tablespoons of sugar until lighter in color. While whisking, add a few ounces of brandy to "cook" the eggs. Add the cream, then the half and half, then enough milk (around 2/3 of it), then taste. You want the mixture to be a bit richer than half and half. Add a bit more milk if you need to. Add vanilla, then taste, and correct for sugar. Add most of the remaining brandy, remembering to taste - this should have a detectable amount of alcohol, but should not be overpowering or raw tasting. With a scoop, add about half of the ice cream to the punch bowl, and whisk it in. Float the remaining ice cream in the bowl for cooling. Whip the egg whites to medium peaks with a bit of sugar. Add the whites to the bowl, and mix in gently. Grate some nutmeg on top of punch, then pass the grater for guests to garnish as they will.

Notes

Some people have issues with raw eggs. If you do, this is not for you. As kids, we used to get it without the alcohol, and we're alright. Recently, I have come to like about 20 oz of Cognac (Ferrand 10, etc - decent, but nice) and the remainder Jamaican rum, like Mt. Gay XO or Appleton 12. We also use Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, because it's available and fairly rich.

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From the Knowledge Vault

'Tis Pity She's a Corpse

A Short History of the Corpse Reviver

Nineteenth century drinking culture was, in many ways, quite alien to what is socially acceptable today. The local saloon was more like a coffee shop – where (mainly) men socialized and drank throughout the day. Many people started and ended their day with a drink, and took them to waken the appetite, digest meals, or “whenever steam and energy are needed”. Many drinks in the middle of the 19^th century reflect the notion of the energy and verve a quick stiff drink would give the imbiber: “flash of lightning”, “pick me up”, “refresher”, “invigorator” and our primary subject, the “corpse-reviver”.

The first reference I can find of a drink called a Corpse Reviver is in Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (London) on October 23^rd, 1859 in which a theater reviewer describes Tom Taylor’s new play Garibaldi:

Suddenly, the reader will surprised to hear, every man jack of the company of troopers gets excessively drunk and incapable on a couple of enormous stone jugs of some American drink (possibly “corpse reviver” or “gone ‘coon”)…

One of the most interesting things about the search for the early Corpse Reviver is the lack of American sources that reference the drink. The earliest mentions are in London newspapers and magazines, and though they’re always very careful to call them “American drinks”, throughout the latter half of the 19th century, it is almost always European sources who give reference to the Corpse Reviver. Which makes a lot of sense, because no less than the celebrated Jerry Thomas introduced this drink to wild acclaim in London.

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Recent Discussion

Re Sloe Scobeyville Sling, 22 hours 49 minutes ago Shawn C commented:
Fixed a number of errors and omissions in this old submission: Uses Lairds bonded (100 proof) apple brandy, not an ambiguous apple jack (which can be lower proof, mixed with other neutral spirits and relatively unaged.) Uses Peychaud's, not Angostura. Short shaken, not stirred. Added the club soda to ingredients.
Re Jakartian Peardition, 23 hours 2 minutes ago Shawn C commented:
Corrected the recipe from "pear liqueur" to "pear eau de vie" and the called for Clear Creek. The previous commenter is correct, pear brandy and pear liqueur can differ greatly. Unfortunately, "pear brandy" currently is listed as an alias for pear liqueur, when pear brandy is instead ambiguous because it could refer to a drier brandy or eau de vie, while pear liqueur is by nature sweetened. It could take some time to untangle this in other recipes.
Re Liquid Smoke, 1 day ago Craig E commented:
Curated to make name match link, change stir to shake, add salt rim, and clarify twist.
Re Alberto, 2 days ago Shawn C commented:
Unfortunately and somewhat to my surprise, Punch's version doesn't do this one justice, since it omits the Cointreau and the orange peel that are in the 1937 recipe. I prefer Kina l'Aero d'Or to Cocchi Americano in many of the old Kina Lillet cocktails, including this one, because I find the Cocchi somewhat overly intense with respect to cinnamon notes. As an approximation of the original cocktail I used: 1 Tanqueray, 1 Kina l'Aero d'Or, 1 Lustau Fino Sherry, 1/6 (1 barspoon) Cointreau, orange peel in drink. My recommendation is to use the Cointreau volume to slightly adjust sweetness up or down. I am debating whether to make a new cocktail entry for the "original" Alberto with Kina Lillet, and add my notes there.
Re Fanny Wright, 2 days ago Shawn C commented:
Good cocktail, cool name reference, and I can tell it would work very well with a rich stew. The Bruto Americano adds some cooking herb flavors for another dimension. I tried it using Cutty Sark Prohibition for its flavor, but the 100 proof made it a little hot, so I recommend sticking to an 80 proof as in the original call. I used 1/4 oz Maraschino vs. 1/3 oz (2 tsp) as I was worried that might dominate--I can be a little gun shy with Luxardo.