Hot Drinks For Cold Weather
The arrival of winter can mean resetting the thermostat on your imbibing by making heated cocktails that beat the cold. These are three of the classics.
Hot Toddy
Born humbly in eighteenth-century Britain as a simple mix of whisky, sweetener and hot water, the updated Hot Toddy has added a raft of choices. Today, they’re made with spirits from Scotch to Irish, Bourbon, rum and brandy and can come zesty with spices, lemon juice and even tea.
2 oz. Scotch whisky (or other aged spirit)
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
Hot water (or tea)
Lemon wedge studded with cloves
Combine the spirit, honey, lemon juice and spices in a warmed coffee glass. Fill with hot water. Garnish with lemon wedge. Use a warm spoon to handle the honey.
Hot Buttered Rum
It may seem strange to today’s sensibilities, but making alcohol savory with butter was so unremarkable back in the day that this drink was simply called Hot Spiced Rum until the twentieth century. It still tracks today, especially in the evening, when drinking one is like hitting the snooze button.
2 oz. dark rum
1 Tsp. brown sugar
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup hot water
Put sugar, spice and butter into a warm mug or coffee glass. Add the rum and hot water. Stir.
Irish Coffee
Before this neoclassic was formally named in 1942, people had certainly added booze to coffee. The genius that the Irish brought to the concept was not just the type of spirit, but the floater of cream that lets the drink transmogrify as it slowly becomes one with the coffee and whiskey. You can swap the latter with your choice of brown goods.
4 oz. coffee
1 ½ oz. Irish whiskey (or other aged spirit)
1 Tsp. brown sugar
Heavy cream
Whip the cream into a thick froth. Mix coffee, whiskey and sugar in a 6-oz. preheated coffee glass. Top with whipped cream.
