Cozy Hot Toddy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best alcohol for hot toddy? ›

These days, when it comes to making hot toddies, it's a flexible rubric. Maker's Mark and Jameson are popular choices, but they're far from your only option. Try it with rye, Bourbon, rum, or the brown spirit of your choosing. The best whiskey to use in a hot toddy is the one you have on hand.

To make a hot toddy, you'll need bourbon (which is a type of whiskey), honey, lemons, cinnamon sticks, star anise pods, and whole cloves. Simply combine the bourbon, lemon juice, and honey in a mug and add boiling water (use more or less water depending on how strong you'd like your hot toddy to be).

The ingredients in a hot toddy have been shown to have cough-suppressing properties. Alcohol isn't needed in the recipe to experience these benefits. Consuming warm water, lemon, and honey is the key to symptom relief. Additional items can be added to taste, such as tea, clove, and ginger.

But fear not, hot cider, hot toddy, and mulled wine lovers: Around 85 percent of your beloved alcohol will survive the heating process. The U.S. Department of Agriculture did a study in 2007 that nailed down the numbers with the magic of the scientific method.

Mulled wine ranks among the best drinks for soothing sore throat and cough. Red wine with oranges or lemons, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, cardamom, or honey is warmed to serve as a remedy against cold.

Furthermore, there's evidence that suggests drinking two hot toddies per day can help relieve cold symptoms such as sore throats and congestion when paired with restful sleep.

The alcohol can help clear mucus by dilating blood vessels in the upper body. The steam from the hot water might also help to clear congestion. Whiskey might also cause drowsiness, helping you to get more rest.

From a hot toddy, lemon and honey coat the throat and cut through the unpleasant mucus lingering in the head; cinnamon offers sweet warmth to the beverage, and the bourbon takes a more aggressive approach in combatting congestion.

"Hot toddies, as the name implies, are served hot. Heat does wonders for someone when sick. A hot beverage can soothe the throat and can provide someone who has shaking (with) chills the feeling and comfort of a warm hug," Ascher said. The heat also helps to break down and thin out mucus to help clear it from the body.

Can a hot toddy cure bronchitis? ›

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane in the bronchial tubes leading from the lungs and can feel like drowning. A standard toddy - base spirit, citrus, spices, honey and hot water - is soothing for this and any other type of respiratory distress to calm nerves and temporarily reduce swelling.

The hot toddy is not one of those drinks that you down simply to get drunk. It is more of an experience and a way to relax, so its alcohol content may be irrelevant for the most part. However, for the curious drinker, you can expect it to weigh in around 6 percent ABV (12 proof).

A hot toddy, also known as hot whiskey in Ireland, and occasionally called southern cough syrup within the Southern United States, is typically a mixed drink made of liquor and water with honey (or in some recipes, sugar), lemon, herbs (such as tea) and spices, and served hot.

Whiskey can temporarily widen your blood vessels. In small amounts, this can help clear mucus congestion in your sinuses and chest, which lets your body better deal with sickness and infection. This effect may also relieve other symptoms of a cold or flu, like coughing or wheezing.

– Bourbon or Whiskey?: While bourbon is the traditional choice for a Hot Toddy, don't hesitate to experiment with other types of whiskey. Each variety brings its unique character to the drink, from the smokiness of a Scotch to the smoothness of an Irish whiskey.

Whisky's key ingredients, namely alcohol and phenols, boast natural antiseptic properties that may help soothe your ailing throat.

That's when we recommend the timeless combination of lemon, cinnamon, a little hot water, and a splash of Tennessee Whiskey. If you want an even easier version of this fairly simple recipe, just replace the Old No. 7 and honey with some Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey. Nothing to it.