Hot Toddy

A steaming mug of spirit, honey, lemon, and hot water laced with warm spice — the original cold-weather nightcap and folk remedy for the sniffles. The name descends from the Indian "toddy" (fermented palm sap), with the hot-liquor sense recorded by 1786; competing lore credits 18th-century Scotland and the physician Robert Bentley Todd. Jerry Thomas codified the spirit-sugar-boiling-water core in 1862, and lemon and clove-studded spice rounded it into the comfort drink we know.

HotClassicCozy

Ingredients

  • 2 ozWhiskey
  • 0.75 ozHoney
  • 0.5 ozLemon Juice
  • 4 ozHot Water
  • 3 pieceWhole Cloveoptional

Garnish: Cinnamon Stick, Lemon Wheel

Preparation

built · Mug · None

  1. 1.

    add

    Add the honey and lemon juice to a warmed mug.

  2. 2.

    build

    Pour in the whiskey, then top with hot water and stir until the honey dissolves.

  3. 3.

    garnish

    Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a clove-studded lemon wheel; serve hot.

Flavor Profile

sweet
25%
spiced
22%
dilution
20%
body
20%
temperature
20%
heat
14%
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