The Minty Mixes: Hot Toddy for the Cold/Flu Season
whiskey hot toddy
The first drink I had in 2018 was a hot toddy I had to make myself because I was miserable with a cold/flu. I didn’t go to a doctor to find out what the fever/aches/chills/coughing/sneezing were all about but I suspect it was the awful flu that’s been going around.
After days of plain tea, I decided it was time to really get rid of this nasty flu. Bring on the hot toddy.
Hot Toddy
- 1.5 oz whiskey (or brandy or rum or whatever floats your boat– I’m thinking of doing an aquavit one next)
- 1 teaspoon honey (to taste, add more if you want)
- .25 oz lemon (again, to taste, add more if you like)
- hot water (approximately 6 oz)
- tea (whatever you like but I suggest an herbal tea– I used elderberry-echninacea)
- lemon wheel garnish (optional)
- spices **
Recipe (or Minty notes):
Hot toddies are pretty easy. If you can make tea, you can do this. Some actually boil water. Pfff. You’re sick. Microwave that (filtered, bottled, whatever) water.
There are some recipes out there that have you fill up the mug with lemon, honey, booze, tea and then hot water halfway. Then more booze and hot water. I am sure there’s a good reason for that. But when you’re miserable, just put all the ingredients in and add water. I have seen some recipes call for a tablespoon of honey and way more lemon yet they use a regular mug. So I would suggest starting with a bit of honey and lemon and adjust as necessary. I was pretty happy with just a teaspoon of honey (organic if you must know) and .25 of lemon (Meyer lemon as that’s my fave lemon). It was perfect.
Also I found 1.5 oz of whiskey was a good amount. I still question those going for a full two oz… just how big are their mugs??
In any case, I used an Irish coffee mug which is 8 oz.
Remove the tea bag after steeping. Or after you take the photo to prove you actually put tea in that toddy. Some don’t use tea but since I didn’t have any spices lying about, tea was good to have in my toddy. I have some brown rice tea. I wonder how that’ll do in a toddy with aquavit.
Also, it turned out my lemon wheel was huge (bigger than the mouth of the glass) so that’s why I cut it in half. Luckily, it turned out prettier that way.
And drink and feel better.
** I didn’t have a cinnamon stick or cloves handy but you can certainly add those to your toddy
© 2018 The Minty