![]() Modern recipes frequently call for the juice of the lemon as well. This may have originated in the 1700s with a variation called a ‘skin’ which utilized a lemon peel either muddled with the sugar or boiled with the water. ![]() One of the largest differences between original and modern recipes is the use of citrus juices. ![]() Recipes can be found for versions that use tea, coffee, hot cider or hot wine in place of the water, and which are seasoned with everything from cinnamon and clove to allspice, ginger, and cayenne pepper. Of course as with any “original” cocktail recipe, variations abound. However, the hot water will quickly dissolve most forms of sugar so feel free to use raw, brown, Demerara, Turbinado, honey, maple syrup, molasses, or even corn syrup. The original recipes would have called for fine or confectioner’s sugar, which was chosen for its ability to rapidly dissolve in cold drinks. Whatever you choose, remember that the drink will seem more prominently alcoholic because the heat causes the alcohol to give off more ‘fumes’ and just as icing a whisky makes it duller and blander (and easier to drink if the booze is cheap), heating it does the opposite.įor the sugar, anything sweet will do. Like David Wondrich does in his seminal book on cocktail history, Imbibe! (from which I’ve drawn a lot… ok ALL of my cocktail knowledge), I suggest the use of a heavier pot-still product such as malt whisky, single pot-still Irish whiskey (like Redbreast 12), or dark pot-still rum. You can’t go far wrong, though, since precedent exists for just about everything short of vodka, tequila, or dry gin. I use an electric kettle, and I leave it for 15 – 20 seconds after it clicks before pouring the water.Ĭhoosing the spirit will be a personal matter of experimentation. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top.įor best results, use filtered water that is just off the boil. Muddle the sugar and water together in a heated mug. The original recipe called only for hot water, spirits, sugar, and nutmeg. Often prescribed by doctors as a cure-all, it quickly became the quintessential hot cocktail and was made with anything that came to hand when the called-for Scottish malt whisky wasn’t available: rum, bourbon, rye, applejack, brandy, pot-still Hollands gin (a malty spirit unlike today’s dry gins), etc. Supposedly of Scottish origin, the Hot Toddy has been a staple of drinking culture since as early as the 1750s (or earlier, the first printed reference was in 1750). At times like these my mind turns away from single-malts and cocktails to something more utilitarian: The Hot Toddy. I’m getting that sinking feeling that my allergy sniffles are not allergies, and I’ll be shoulder-deep in tissues any day now. At this moment my son is recovering from two (at least) separate illnesses and is showing signs of a third, while my wife is sleeping away a Saturday with a fever and probable strep throat. Our house has become a revolving door for pathogenic organisms, usually of multiple types, brought home in spades by my plague-rat of a child. One thing they never tell you about having a baby: Once that baby is old enough to be in daycare or preschool, you will be sick.
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