Warm Up your Winter on National Hot Toddy Day

January 11th is National Hot Toddy Day! A hot toddy is a delicious drink made with honey, lemon, hot water, and the spirit of your choice (usually whiskey, brandy, or rum). It’s the perfect way to warm up on a cold winter day, and it’s said that a few sips can also relieve cold or flu symptoms.

Hot toddies originated in Scotland sometime during the 18^th century. While the exact details are unknown, historians believe that the recipe was developed to make the taste of Scotch whiskey more palatable. One theory suggests that the word “toddy” evolved from “Tod’s well” (also known as Todian Spring), the water supply for Edinburgh.

The secret of hot toddies is that they’re actually way easier than other cocktails—all you need is a kettle. Since you’re using hot water, you don’t need to make any kind of fancy syrup; your sweeteners will dissolve into the drink with just a quick stir. The steam also carries all the aromatics right up to your happy nose, meaning any ingredient you drop in a toddy will immediately come through in the aroma. Put a cinnamon stick in a cold drink and it won’t do much (at least not right away). In a toddy? Much different story.

Some cocktails are all about balance, and that means precision—a teaspoon of that, a few drops of this, a mist of something else applied from exactly six inches away. But the hot toddy is a forgiving cocktail, and it seems to reward improvisation like few other drinks. Don’t like rye? Try bourbon, or skip the whiskey altogether (heresy!) and use brandy, then imagine you’re being rescued from an avalanche in the Swiss Alps by a friendly St. Bernard. We’ve even seem some recipes that substitute tequila! Give yourself permission to experiment.

Want to try making a toddy of your own? Here are three recipes from Food & Wine Magazine to get you going:

Easy: Applejack Toddy

Bourbon and brandy are both classic toddy bases, but we’re going with a different sort of brandy today: applejack. Distilled from apples and then barrel-aged, it’s got the heft of any other brown spirit but, in toddy form, ends up reminding us of hot apple cider. Except in this case, very hard apple cider.

Instructions: Add 2 ounces of applejack (Laird’s Bottled in Bond is your best choice here) and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup to a heat-safe glass. Add a dash of Angostura bitters. Heat 2 ounces of water to a near-boil and pour into glass; stir until maple syrup is dissolved. Insert a few cloves into a lemon wedge, squeeze it in and leave in the glass. Garnish with a long cinnamon stick and a thin slice of apple.

Intermediate: Scotch Toddy

Bourbon toddies tend to be delicious, but they’re safe. Looking for something a little funkier? Go for a full-throttle, crazy-smoky-peaty Scotch like Laphroaig. For a spirit this intense, we’re going with robust garnishes like grapefruit and pink peppercorn. This one isn’t for Scotch novices, but if you’re all about flavor, you’ll adore this.

Instructions: Add 1 1/2 ounces of Laphroaig 10 (or another Islay Scotch) and 1 teaspoon of honey to a heat-safe glass. Heat 3 ounces of water to a near-boil and pour into glass; stir until honey is dissolved. Stud a grapefruit wedge with a few cloves, squeeze it in and leave in the glass. Add a few pink peppercorns.

Advanced: Campari Toddy

Wait—Campari? That bitter Italian stuff? Amazingly, it makes a beautiful toddy; its bittersweet herbal notes emerge with hot water, and honey brings it from superbitter to pleasantly so.

Instructions: Add 1 1/2 ounces of Campari and 1 teaspoon of honey to a heat-safe glass. Heat 3 ounces of water to a near-boil and pour into glass; stir until honey is dissolved. Take a lemon wedge, squeeze it over the top and toss it in.

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