Hot Toddy – For Strength!

Hot damn! That’s a thought that was on my mind most nights last week, as my wife and I suffered through two of the worst colds we’ve had in a long time.

The colds were bad. But the only good thing to come out of the whole experience was the rebirth of our love for hot toddies. For the uninitiated, a hot toddy is a wonderful combination of whiskey, lemon juice, honey and hot water. While suffering through our colds, the toddies helped us get to sleep. The lemon juice and honey also helped with quieting our coughs so we can sleep through the night.

According to Wikipedia:

Hot toddy is a name given to a mixed drink that is served hot, believed to have originated in the 18th century to make the taste of Scotch more palatable to women … Hot toddies … are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in wet and/or cold weather. They were believed to help cure the cold and flu, but the American Lung Association now recommends avoiding treating the common cold with alcoholic beverages as they cause dehydration.

What does the American Lung Association know? Just kidding. Actually, you really should only be drinking one of these a night — even though they do taste really, really good. And if you’re worried about dehydration — and you really should be, if you have a cold — drink a full glass of water before you down one of these. I do this, actually.

Of course, ask your doctor about drinking these with any medications you’re taking, read those inserts your pharmacy gives you about any potential dangers about combining alcohol with your meds, and do the same for any over-the-counter medications. And if you’re taking liquid NyQuil at night? Do not … I repeat … DO NOT … drink a hot toddy with it. Among other things, liquid NyQuil contains alcohol, and you do not want to combine the two.

Anyhow, here’s my very simple recipe for making a hot toddy:

• 1 shot honey
• 1 1/2 shots of whiskey (I use Tullamore Dew or Jamesons)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh squeezed or from concentrate)
• Hot Water (3-5 ounces)

Pour what equals about a shot of honey into a larger shot glass, put the lemon juice on top of the honey, and then nuke both until the honey just starts to bubble through the lemon juice. Pour that into a coffee mug. Then add the whiskey and hot water to the mug. After that, I’ll nuke the entire thing for about 30 seconds.

Make these in a standard coffee cup, and not one of those ginormous mugs that can handle 5 or 6 cups. That way, you won’t be tempted to make too much of a good thing. Because that would be a bad thing. When you’re sick, your body’s defenses are way down. That includes your alcohol “defenses.” You’re not drinking these as a prelude to some kind of illness “party.” This is another form of medicine, pure and simple.

Believe me, one of these is all you’ll need to sleep. And you’ll really only want to do this at night, too.

Of course, you can make these when you’re well. On a cold winter’s night, snuggling with your significant other. Hot toddies are great. And then all of that nagging “DON’T” stuff I wrote about goes out the window.

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