In my deep dive into American food, I feel that I have so far neglected the beverage aspect of things. Yes, I have dicovered - and appreciated - root beer and cream sodas, and Wisconsin's New Glarus beers. But still, I haven't really explored the spirit(ual) side of things, and so I have decided to take classic American drinks every time I can. Last Sunday it was the Hot Toddy.
Hot Toddy is a drink served warm, where a spirit (normally brandy, but it can also be bourbon, whiskey or rum) is mixed with hot water or tea, sugar, honey, lemon and a few spices (a stick of cinnamon, cloves, all spices). As mulled wine in Europe, the hot toddy is often served at ski resorts in America to heat you up. But it is stronger than mulled wine, because the alcohol in it is stronger. And it tastes DELICIOUS.
As with many things related to food, the origin is complicated. There exists a cold Toddy, which apparently was imported into the Southern States of the US from India by the then British rulers. According to this version of the story, the name derives from the Indian word tari. However, most seem to agree that the US version of the Hot Toddy comes from Scotland, where it is still made, using whiskey (the name comes from Tod's well in Edimburgh, where the water came from). Irrespective of the origin, Hot Toddies caught on quickly in America, and commended a specific glassware, a specific stemmed glass with a handle, whose name is also "toddy".
For a long time, hot toddies were considered to be good for curing colds and flues. Unfortunately, it turns out that alcohol dehydrates you, so in the end it wasn't such a good idea. But still, for those long winter days that are ahead of us, a hot toddy sounds like a good idea. The recipe is very simple:
Hot Toddy
3/4 of a glass of hot tea (experiment with the flavor you like)
2 shots of brandy (or whiskey or bourbon)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tbs of honey
A few allspices berries, whole
Mix and be merry. And if you want more recipes of similar beverages, have a look at this.
tuscanfoodie
4 comments:
My favourite hot drink is mulled cider laced with rum and cinnamon. Try it, it's goooood.
Hot cider is one of my favorite as well...haven't tried it with rum, though.
The British recipe is almost the same excpet with lemon rind instead of the berries...Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
You know britgirl, I am not sure the berries are the traditional US version either: it just so happened that the one I had had the allspice berries in it...
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