I wanted to go over a few more "fortified" cold-weather beverages here, beverages that can warm you from the inside in more ways than one (Irish Coffee has been covered).
A simple, Hot Toddy base has just a few ingredients, and you can dress it up from there to taste.
a shot of whiskey or bourbon= 1 oz = 2T = 30 ml
1T (15 ml) honey (or to taste)
boiling water
In a glass, mix the whiskey and honey, just to dissolve the honey a bit.
Top off with boiling water (6-8 oz or 177-236 ml) and stir to combine.
Add spices and citrus as desired:
Lemon slice
Orange slice
Cinnamon stick
A piece of fresh peeled ginger
A few whole cloves
A couple allspice berries
Let the mixture infuse with the spices a couple minutes prior to drinking.
Hot toddies can be especially nice when you're feeling a bit under the weather.
Some other ideas:
Make it a Whiskey or Bourbon Cider- omit the honey and add hot cider to the bourbon along with spices as desired.
Hot Buttered Rum:
Now, I have no clue where the idea to add butter to a warm drink came from.
I'm hoping there was never anyone who said to themselves. "Gosh, a nice mug of warm butter sounds good right about now."
It has the potential to become a very slippery slope. One mug of butter leads to another, and then...?
Anyway, to make an individual hot buttered rum, blend 1 T (14 g) softened butter with 2 T (36 g) packed brown sugar along with a nice dash of cinnamon, a grating of nutmeg, and a touch of ground cloves if desired (plus a bit of salt if you're using unsalted butter here).
Place the compound butter in a mug, add about 4 T (60 ml) rum, and top off with boiling water.
Stir and enjoy!
Granted, it's a little more decadent, more like dessert in a glass than a hot toddy, but sometimes that's what you need.
