Hot Toddy

Cocktail Story

The tradition of mixing spirits with boiling hot water as a fortifying cure-all goes back well before Jerry Thomas ushered in the modern Hot Toddy in his 1862 bartender’s guide, How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant’s Companion. This practice was used medicinally to treat colds in Scotland in the 1700s, naturally with Scotch Whisky. In the mid-1800s, a doctor named Robert Bentley Todd made similar prescriptions, mixing Western spirits like brandy or whiskey with hot water and exotic Eastern spices like cinnamon and cloves, coveted for the health-promoting qualities their aromatics effuse. The addition of vitamin-rich citrus and honey for palatability likens the drink to a hot punch. While medicinal breakthroughs have since rendered this tradition obsolete, Hot Toddies are still the perfect antidote to cold winter nights, whether or not you feel an ache in your bones.