We’ve long been believers in the (mythical) medicinal qualities of certain spirits, and have been tempted to put some to the test over the past few weeks as we’ve battled mightily with a tenacious flu.
There are a bevy of tasty and interesting toddy recipes floating around out there; this Honey Bourbon Toddy cocktail was sent to us by a friend who said he learned it from his very prim and proper grandmother, whose family had farmed in deep southern Mississippi for generations before he was born.
Said grandmother only publicly consumed adult beverages when “fighting off a chill”, on Christmas Eve (she apparently loved her eggnog and rum), and on the 12th of April, commemorating the opening of the Battle of Fort Sumter to kick off the actual shooting hostilities of the Civil War.
Said grandmother also reportedly favored an apple-infused bourbon for her toddies, pouring a bottle of bourbon into a pitcher and adding 4 cored and sliced apples and 4 large cinnamon sticks, which then infused in the “icebox” for 3 or 4 days before being strained and carefully preserved for upcoming medicinal uses.
1 cup hot water
2 tbsp good honey
6 tbsp bourbon
2-3 by 1/2 inch strips of lemon peel
2 long cinnamon sticks
Pour warm water into two (toddy) glasses and set aside.
Combine the honey and hot water in a 2-cup measure; stir until the honey has fully dissolved. Stir the bourbon.
Empty the toddy glasses and fill with the honey-bourbon mixture; twist a lemon peel over over glass and then drop into the glass, stir with the cinnamon and go to it.
Enjoy.
