The cure for the common cold is an elusive beast. You’d think after a sweeping human history of coughing and hacking, hiding sneezes in elbows and rubbing our noses raw, medical science would have caught up by now. But here we remain, licking Emergen-C powder from the packet and trying to pop some feeling back into our clogged up ears.
The hot toddy is not a cure for the common cold. But while Robitussin might open the airways in your chest, and Nyquil might get you a couple blessed hours of sleep, a hot toddy cures your soul. A piping hot concoction of bourbon, honey, and lemon poured over with herbal tea, it steams its way through your airways and arteries, dispensing hot comfort as it goes. Here’s how to make one for yourself this winter. Bartender’s orders.
All quantities to taste.
A Little Background
In 1837, the Burlington Free Press published an article advising parents that, should their child be stricken with the cold, to bundle him up in flannel, stuff him full of food, and ply him with “hot stimulating drinks, of which hot toddy is best.” In 1981, William Faulkner’s niece wrote about her Pappy that he “always made a small ceremony out of serving his Hot Toddy, bringing it upstairs on a silver tray and admonishing his patient to drink it quickly, before it cooled off. It never failed,” Southern Living recounts. Why weren’t we all raised up on steaming cups of boozy tea?
To be clear, your family doctor will not prescribe you a hot toddy when you sit on their inspection table complaining about the sniffles. A hot toddy has alcohol in it; alcohol in large quantities suppresses the immune system. They definitely won’t suggest giving booze to your kid, because duh. But a hot toddy does have lemon, honey, and tea, a trinity of homeopathic healing that most people swear eases the symptoms of a cold. (Science hasn’t provided much proof as to why, NPR reports, so you’ll have to do your own trial run.)
But more importantly than anti-inflammatories and Vitamin C intake is the emotional response associated with drinking something good and hot. A 2009 study found that making a cup of tea reduced anxiety in stressful situations. It’s not too much of a leap to assume adding booze to that cup gives the drinker blessed peace of mind, too.
If You Like This, Try These
A hot toddy in its most basic form is a base of hot water and whiskey into which spices of your choosing can be added. Nutmeg and cinnamon are tasty, and cider can sweeten the pot. Vermont Grade-A maple syrup makes a killer toddy riff. If you’re craving anything alcoholic with steam coming off the top, there’s no shortage of hot cocktails, including hot buttered rum, Irish coffee (with Irish whiskey), and mulled red wine.
All we recommend with the toddy is sticking to bourbon. As a little ditty in Arizona’s Tombstone Epitaph from 1920 reads:
The grave holds the body / of poor Michael McCall; / He drank a hot toddy / Made of wood alcohol.
Do not make your toddy with methanol.
What You Need
Here’s what you need to do a hot toddy justice, beyond what you might be able to dig out of the fridge or cupboard.
