A hot toddy is a mixed drink, usually including alcohol, that is served hot. Hot toddies (such as mulled cider) are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in wet 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.[1]
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Traditional Northern British preparation of a hot toddy involves the mixture of whisky, boiling water, and sugar or honey. Additional ingredients such as cloves, a lemon slice or cinnamon (in stick or ground form) may be added.[2]
Depending on preference, the cloves and cinnamon stick can be removed before drinking, although leaving them in is often said to make a toddy even better for clearing a blocked nose and relieving a head cold.
The traditional Southern English variation uses black tea instead of plain hot water.
A common version in the Midwest uses Vernors Ginger Ale, lemon, honey and Bourbon whiskey.
It has been suggested that the name comes from the toddy drink in India,[3] produced by fermenting the sap of palm trees. The term could have been introduced into Scotland by a member of the British East India Company.[4]
An alternative explanation is given in Allan Ramsay's 1721 poem The Morning Interview, which describes a tea party in which it is said that
To this passage, Ramsay has appended the note:
Tod's Well, on the side of Arthur's Seat, supplied Edinburgh, and since whisky derives its name from water (the Scots Gaelic term uisge beatha ), it could be that "Toddy" was a facetious name for whisky.