Hot drinks on a cold winter day are great. Hot and relaxing drinks in the evening after a hard day. Super!

Time to Warm Up

Uncle Smokey here this week. It’s been cold around the homestead recently, and I wanted something hot and relaxing and perhaps alcoholic after a long hard day fighting caliche. Cold beer on a cold day – nope.

The words “Hot Toddy,” swam into my brain. Sounds good – I thought, but can’t recall as I have ever made one. Luckily I had this fantastic little recipe book that the other Savorists created, so I dug it out. Yep! It’s in there!

Honey Hot Toddy

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 ounces whiskey, bourbon, or rum.
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh-squeezed if you have it.
• Optionally – garnish with a curl of lemon peel

Savorist Jacqueline notes in the cookbook, “ I first had this as a child, given to me as “cough medicine.” Not sure it did much for the cough, but it sure did put me to sleep. Mind you, we lived on a remote farm, the nearest drugstore was about 45 minutes away over rough dirt roads, not to mention it closed at 6 pm.”

So I Told A Friend

I was a tad slow at work the next day.  Just discovering that one hot toddy is nice but more than that – not ideal late in the evening. I was,,,, well, shall we say, “amply hydrated,” with the result that I did not sleep uninterrupted through the night.

My work buddy laughed and asked if I put ginger in mine. Hadn’t much thought about it, so now here is his version, that I experimented with a bit.

Honey Ginger Hot Toddy

• 1 cup boiling water
• ginger – see below
• 1. 5 ounces whiskey (or bourbon, or rum)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice – fresh is best
• optional – 1 curl lemon peel for garnish

Step 1. Get your ginger ready. If you have fresh ginger – cut a 1/ 4 inch round off the end and dice it fine. Otherwise use 2 ginger tea bags. Failing that you can use 1 / 2 teaspoon ground ginger.

Step 2. Put the ginger in the bottom of a nice big mug and add the boiling water. This needs to steep and infuse flavor for about five minutes, especially if you used ground ginger. You want it to sink.

Step 3. Get the fresh lemon juice ready – it about 1 /3 a regular lemon – or just use 2 standard wedges which are usually 1 /6 a lemon.

Step 4. Add the other stuff once the ginger powder sinks.

Enjoy!

Here’s The Cookbook!

May we suggest our dandy little cookbook?   Using Honey in New and Savory Ways offers 36 pages of tips for using honey in your cooking, as well as in all manner of dishes. A steal at only $6!

We hope you will help support some local Southwest folks!
From the review:
“Honey is for more than desserts and this book can help! Using honey in cooking savory dishes helps engage all your taste buds and adds a layer of added flavor to everyday dishes – plus holiday fare.”

Beekeeper?  We offer volume discounts – because if you sell honey in local markets you might want to offer some of these books as well.

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Disclaimer

The authors of this website have researched the edibility of the materials we discuss, however, humans vary in their ability to tolerate different foods, drinks, and herbs. Individuals consuming flowers, plants, animals or derivatives mentioned in this blog do so entirely at their own risk. The authors on this site cannot be held responsible for any adverse reaction. In case of doubt please consult your medical practitioner.