Classic holiday drink is a tradition in downtown Port Huron
The sound of Christmas at the Brass Rail in Port Huron isn’t sleigh bells.
It’s the whir of the KitchenAid mixers churning the batter for the classic Tom and Jerry drink that is part of the city’s holiday fabric.
The Rail started serving the frothy and eggy holiday drinks the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Manager Sue Dunn said Helen David brought the drink to Port Huron about 80 years ago. David opened the Brass Rail in 1937 and owned it until her death in 2006.
„I believe the first year the bar was open, she went somewhere and had one and fell in love with the drink,“ Dunn said.
David wasn’t the only person to fall in love with the drink — the demand during the holidays keeps at least one of the mixers running at all times.
„We have three mixers, and they did it with hand mixers,“: Dunn said. „When she started out, she only had the traditional brandy and rum, then she mixed it up with the Amaretto and rum, made it a little sweeter.“
Dunn said the Brass Rail will serve a Tom and Jerry with any kind of liquor a patron wants — or none at all.
„We must have, I’ve lost count, but we must eight or 10 that we suggest,“ she said.
Ellen Hoover and Robin Finch were enjoying the hot drinks.
„We just have to come to see the decorations… get us in the Christmas spirit and have a Tom and Jerry,“ Hoover said.
Finch was having her drink with RumChata and cinnamon Schnapps; Hoover had hers with Bailey’s Irish Cream.
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„We always look forward to this, when it’s decorated and when they have Tom and Jerries,“ Hoover said.
Dan and Jenny Hayes stopped by the Rail on Friday for a Tom and Jerry.
„It’s become kind of a tradition,“ Dan Hayes said. „We got married four years ago, and we attended the opener for the Festival of Trees. She said we should go across the street to the Brass Rail. They have this really cool drink.
„It’s an old-timey traditional drink,“ he said. „I remember my mom and dad had an old-timey Tom and Jerry set.“
„It’s like hot chocolate for grownups,“ Jenny Hayes said.
They also were enjoying the ambiance with hundreds, maybe even thousands of twinkling lights decking the walls and a large tree behind the bar.
„It’s stuff your parents would have had up,“ Jenny Hayes said.
There’s not many places like this anymore,“ Dan Hayes said. „It definitely has a feel to it you’re not going to find anywhere else in town.“
The Brass Rail will be serving Tom and Jerries through New Years, Dunn said.
And she said it shouldn’t be confused with another holiday drink.
„It’s not even close to eggnog,“ she said. „It’s about frothy foam that takes on the flavor of whatever you put in it.“
