Whoa-oh hot toddy, bambalam
January 13, 2019 4:52 PM Subscribe
Hot toddies are my jam this winter. Help me make them utterly delectable.
My current recipe, for an “apple cinnamon” version:
1.5 oz Calvados
Couple teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Cinnamon apple herbal tea
Sometimes a cinnamon stick
Still, I feel like there could be... more. Spicier, more exciting flavors, new spins on the old classic?? I don’t know! If you don’t want to get bored, how do you switch it up every once in awhile and still have what is essentially a hot, mostly clear, semi-seasonal alcoholic drink?
My current recipe, for an “apple cinnamon” version:
1.5 oz Calvados
Couple teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Cinnamon apple herbal tea
Sometimes a cinnamon stick
Still, I feel like there could be... more. Spicier, more exciting flavors, new spins on the old classic?? I don’t know! If you don’t want to get bored, how do you switch it up every once in awhile and still have what is essentially a hot, mostly clear, semi-seasonal alcoholic drink?
A friend uses chai tea and it’s always delish. I like plenty of lemon juice, too.
posted by lovableiago at 5:00 PM on January 13, 2019
posted by lovableiago at 5:00 PM on January 13, 2019
Best answer: That's an amazing-looking hot toddy recipe. May i suggest adding cloves -- or allspice? Maybe a grating of nutmeg sprinkled on top.
I look forward to trying this next weekend.
posted by platitudipus at 5:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
I look forward to trying this next weekend.
posted by platitudipus at 5:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Sweet & Spicy Toddy:
1.5 oz bourbon
Mint tea
Honey
Lemon juice
Fresh grated ginger or ginger juice
Smokey Toddy:
1.5 oz rye whiskey
Lapsang Souchong or Russian Caravan black tea
Seedless raspberry jam
Lemon Juice
posted by ananci at 5:11 PM on January 13, 2019 [8 favorites]
1.5 oz bourbon
Mint tea
Honey
Lemon juice
Fresh grated ginger or ginger juice
Smokey Toddy:
1.5 oz rye whiskey
Lapsang Souchong or Russian Caravan black tea
Seedless raspberry jam
Lemon Juice
posted by ananci at 5:11 PM on January 13, 2019 [8 favorites]
Best answer: You can embed whole cloves in a slice of lemon for a bit of a kick, plus it looks nice.
If you don't have to go to sleep any time soon, try it with earl gray tea.
posted by mai at 5:24 PM on January 13, 2019
If you don't have to go to sleep any time soon, try it with earl gray tea.
posted by mai at 5:24 PM on January 13, 2019
Best answer: Well I like this bourbon and chartreuse toddy from Imbibe. I have not yet tried their rye version, which is a warm whiskey riff on a Bijou.
posted by crush at 5:29 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by crush at 5:29 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I like to do a mix: half brewed green tea and half lemon ginger juice (available rather more cheaply at Trader Joe's). I'll add a few thin slices of peeled fresh gingerroot at the bottom of the mug, and a squeeze of lemon, then serve with a thin lemon wedge and a slice of crystallised ginger as garnish. Particularly nice with Tennessee Honey whiskey, but good with almost any whiskey or rye.
For a less-sweet version, do all green tea and squeeze half a fresh lemon in, adding honey and/or crystallised ginger slices to taste.
posted by halation at 5:31 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
For a less-sweet version, do all green tea and squeeze half a fresh lemon in, adding honey and/or crystallised ginger slices to taste.
posted by halation at 5:31 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Replace or add to the Calvados with some pommeau.
posted by rhizome at 5:32 PM on January 13, 2019
posted by rhizome at 5:32 PM on January 13, 2019
Best answer: Another tea to try as a base is almond tea, such as Celestial Seasonings "Almond Sunset." Most of your other listed ingredients would go well with that, though I generally prefer bourbon or rye as the liquor.
Another way to make it spicier is to get some really fresh cinnamon sticks, like not the ones you've been saving since last year, and add some freshly powdered cinnamon right before serving. It's a different, more piquant flavor than when you stew a stick.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Another way to make it spicier is to get some really fresh cinnamon sticks, like not the ones you've been saving since last year, and add some freshly powdered cinnamon right before serving. It's a different, more piquant flavor than when you stew a stick.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The hot toddy from Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn is 1.5 ounces of amaretto in a cup of hot apple cider, topped with a float of whipped cream. It is phenomenal.
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 6:07 PM on January 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 6:07 PM on January 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Juice of 1/2 or whole lime
Honey
Tequila
Hot water
I don't measure, just go by taste.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:41 PM on January 13, 2019
Honey
Tequila
Hot water
I don't measure, just go by taste.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:41 PM on January 13, 2019
Best answer: nb actual orange slices, not those candies
i feel like i want to try it with the other version now though tbqh
posted by halation at 7:17 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
i feel like i want to try it with the other version now though tbqh
posted by halation at 7:17 PM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: (Just added allspice to my preexisting recipe, it worked EXCEPTIONALLY well)
posted by stoneandstar at 8:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by stoneandstar at 8:00 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Le Barricou in Brooklyn makes a standard Toddy (bourbon, honey, hot water, cinnamon I think but adds Benedictine to it, and it's delicious.
posted by drapatz at 9:59 PM on January 13, 2019
posted by drapatz at 9:59 PM on January 13, 2019
Best answer: My most recent recipe:
Rum (I used a banana and Caramel Rum, because I'm a fancy boy)
Maple Syrup
Half a lemons juice
A slice of lemon
A Cinnamon stick
A smashed Nutmeg,
Cloves ,
Star Anise
(I put all the spices in a little teabag affair)
Boiling water.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:31 AM on January 14, 2019
Rum (I used a banana and Caramel Rum, because I'm a fancy boy)
Maple Syrup
Half a lemons juice
A slice of lemon
A Cinnamon stick
A smashed Nutmeg,
Cloves ,
Star Anise
(I put all the spices in a little teabag affair)
Boiling water.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:31 AM on January 14, 2019
I live just across the border from Mississippi, so I can’t not link to a “Hotty Toddy” explainer, in case you needed something to chant while drinking a toddy.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:42 AM on January 14, 2019
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:42 AM on January 14, 2019
Best answer: I have spiked my chai lattes with Bailey's and it is surprisingly delicious.
posted by gennessee at 7:45 AM on January 14, 2019
posted by gennessee at 7:45 AM on January 14, 2019
Best answer: Your default made me think of my current fave straight away!
Calvados, Creme de Mure (blackberry liqueur) and strong-brewed black tea; assam for a cleaner taste, lapsang souchong to add some of the smokiness you'd normally turn to a whisky for...
(This is a hot version of a drink I came up with a while back; equal parts Calvados, blackberry or raspberry liqueur and Fernet Branca. Straight up, no ice).
Both are an intriguing mix of simple fruit flavours which get massively deepened and lengthened by the tea / Fernet.
posted by protorp at 2:45 PM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
Calvados, Creme de Mure (blackberry liqueur) and strong-brewed black tea; assam for a cleaner taste, lapsang souchong to add some of the smokiness you'd normally turn to a whisky for...
(This is a hot version of a drink I came up with a while back; equal parts Calvados, blackberry or raspberry liqueur and Fernet Branca. Straight up, no ice).
Both are an intriguing mix of simple fruit flavours which get massively deepened and lengthened by the tea / Fernet.
posted by protorp at 2:45 PM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Great use for leftover Christmas candy! Just about any hard candy--peppermint discs, sticks, cinnamon drops-- dissolved in a jar of vodka, rum or whiskey and stirred can be combined with hot coffee or tea to kick up your hot toddies. This leads into a whole different discussion about alcohol-based infusions. I have tried orange peelings [mostly peel with little or no zest] with rum, peppercorns and vodka, and my current fav--a vanilla bean soaking in a bottle of 151 proof Cruzan Rum.
It does require a bit of planning as you do need a few days/weeks for the flavors to meld and the candies to melt. Taste tests and trial and error will get you there.
posted by Gino on the Meta at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2019
It does require a bit of planning as you do need a few days/weeks for the flavors to meld and the candies to melt. Taste tests and trial and error will get you there.
posted by Gino on the Meta at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2019
Jameson's, a bag of this ginger tea (or similar) and half a lemon, all in hot water.
I like to drop in the squeezed lemon half just to get some oil from the peel in there but I discovered that the alcohol was extracting out some really bitter flavors from it. So now I add hot water, ginger tea powder, lemon juice and squeezed out peel, stir for a while, then I take the peel out and put Jameson's in.
Also: excellent post title!
posted by Vatnesine at 4:16 PM on January 25, 2019
I like to drop in the squeezed lemon half just to get some oil from the peel in there but I discovered that the alcohol was extracting out some really bitter flavors from it. So now I add hot water, ginger tea powder, lemon juice and squeezed out peel, stir for a while, then I take the peel out and put Jameson's in.
Also: excellent post title!
posted by Vatnesine at 4:16 PM on January 25, 2019
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posted by stoneandstar at 4:54 PM on January 13, 2019