Hot Toddy Recipe: Whisky, Honey, Lemon, Hot Water

Ingredients

1½ oz blended Scotch whisky or bourbon, rye or Irish whiskey
½ oz honey about one tablespoon
½ oz lemon juice
3½ oz water just off the boil
3 whole cloves optional, studded into the lemon wheel (optional)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)

Garnish: Lemon wheel with cloves, cinnamon stick · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Warm a heatproof glass or mug with hot water, then pour it out.
Add honey and lemon juice and a little hot water, and stir until the honey dissolves.
Add the whisky and top with the remaining hot water.
Stud a lemon wheel with cloves, add it with the cinnamon stick and let it steep for a minute before drinking.

Watch it made

Hot Toddy

Taste

Soft and warming: honey sweetness, bright lemon and gentle spice around the malty depth of the whisky. Mild in strength because of the hot water.

History and origin

The word "toddy" came into English from India, where it described a drink made from fermented palm sap (from the Hindi "tārī"). By the 18th century it was used in Britain for a mixture of spirit, sugar and hot water, and the hot toddy became a fixture of Scottish and Irish households as well as American taverns.

American bartender Jerry Thomas included toddies made with various spirits in his 1862 bar guide. Over time lemon, honey and warm spices became the usual additions. There is no single inventor, and the recipe was always adapted to whatever spirit was at hand: whisky in Scotland and Ireland, rum or brandy elsewhere.

Bartender tips

Do not use boiling water: it drives off the aroma of the whisky. Let the kettle rest for a minute first.
A lightly peated Scotch adds a subtle smoky note; a bourbon makes the drink rounder and sweeter.
Replace the hot water with black tea or chamomile tea for more depth.

Variations

Rum Toddy: Use aged dark rum instead of whisky and add a pinch of grated nutmeg.
Apple Toddy: Replace half the water with hot, cloudy apple juice and use apple brandy or bourbon.