Hot Toddy Season

by Trish Bales

It's still winter out there-cold and dark. But I know of a fine way to keep warm -- a hot toddy.

I know the name is old-fashioned, but don't let that bother you. Our elders knew the medicinal benefits of a hot toddy. We recognize the benefits of this age-old classic and enjoy the taste at the same time. The combination of inner warmth and flavor a hot toddy provides inside cannot be matched by any other concoction I know of.

In cold, European climates, hot drinks are common in pubs, bars and restaurants. For centuries, village pubs and taverns featured a central fireplace where customers could come in to take the chill off. They served their shivering clientele mulled wine, warm ales, liquor-enhanced coffee drinks and warm scotch whiskey punches. When immigrants arrived along the eastern seaboard, they brought with them the tradition of consuming warm drinks rather than cold ones.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the prohibition movement was gaining strength. One of the most prevalent and powerful churches of America took a staunch position against the sale or imbibing of ardent spirits "unless in cases of extreme necessity". Well, I would imagine that for some, and under certain circumstances, the hot toddy was an extreme necessity.

There are many different types of hot drink recipes circulating around the country, depending upon where the current cold front is hovering. We get our fair share of cold weather here in Texas and when we do, we should take advantage of it by warming up our stove tops, stomachs and toes by slowly sipping a relaxing, warm toddy.

The word toddy may have originated in the East Indies in the form of "tarries", the seventeenth-century word for a drink made from fermented palm juice. Most toddies use Scotch whisky as their base. But they can be made with most spirits, as you will see in the recipes below.

Make sure the glasses you choose are heatproof and warm them before pouring in the liquids. Heatproof glasses are available in a range of sizes and styles, from cups to goblets and tall glasses for Irish coffee. But if you don't have any of these glasses, don't let that deter you. A regular old coffee mug will do just fine.

The traditional Hot Toddy was initially invented to soothe a sore throat and possibly halt a sickness coming on. Lemon juice, for its citrus and Vitamin C benefits, honey, for its throat-coating qualities, and alcohol for its relaxing and cough-suppressing traits, constitute the original Hot Toddy.

I prefer a more refined Hot Toddy recipe such as this one:

Hot Scotch Toddy

• 2 measures Scotch whiskey
• 3 measures boiling water
• 1/2 measure lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey (or brown sugar)
• 3 drops Angostura bitters
• 1 slice lemon, studded with cloves
• ground nutmeg

Fills one glass.

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cooking time: 5 minutes; Total time: 10 minutes