Hot Toddies, Cold Nights

Mark the first day of winter with a hot toddy this evening, courtesy of Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill and Spice Market and New Orleans’ Tales of the Toddy, which shared a few recipes with us. Here’s to getting through the chilly days ahead with a libation that would make Faulkner proud. (Scroll down to the bottom for his own recipe.)

Woodfire Grill’s Wassail
from Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill Bar Manager Blake Morley

1 oz. Rhum Agricole
1 oz. Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy
1 oz. Mulled Apple Cider Shrub (recipe below)
½ oz. white port
½ oz. lemon

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with zest of lemon. At Woodfire Grill, Morley gives the glass a rinse with a nice peaty scotch (such as Compass Box’s “Peat Monster” or Ardbeg) to give the cocktail a bit of smoke.

Mulled Apple Cider Shrub:
4 sticks cinnamon
2 T whole clove
1 small nub fresh ginger
Zest of 1 orange
1 T espresso beans
1 cup Laird’s Apple Brandy
1/2 cup St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar

The shrub needs to be heated to a rolling boil then lowered to a simmer for about 20 minutes.

Spice Market Hot Toddy
from Atlanta’s Spice Market, owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten

4 oz. spiced apple cider, heated (recipe below)
1.5 oz. whiskey

Combine spiced apple cider and whiskey in a snifter. Twist a lemon twist for a garnish and drop into drink.

Spice Market Spiced Apple Cider:
28 oz. apple cider
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
6 cinnamon sticks, toasted and cracked
6 cloves, cracked
4 allspice, cracked
Half a vanilla bean, lightly grilled and split in half lengthwise

Combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer. Do not let boil. Remove from heat and let cool until the mixture has reached room temperature. Strain through a chinois.

Blue Hawaiian Nog
created by mixologist Chris Hannah of New Orleans’ Arnaud’s French 75 Bar, winner of the Tales of the Toddy‘s first-ever Bourbon Spiked Eggnog Competition held December 15

2 oz. Benchmark Bourbon
.25 oz. Blue Curacao
1.25 oz. banana/pineapple cream
1 egg
Pinch of nutmeg spice grounds
Pineapple slice for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, add the bourbon, Blue Curacao, banana/pineapple cream and the egg with ice. Shake and strain over two ice-filled old-fashioned glasses and garnish with a pineapple slice and nutmeg sprinkles.

Carolina Christmas
created by Steven Yamada of New Orleans’ Victory Bar, who won second place in Bourbon Spiked Eggnog Competition for his yam version

1.5 oz. Catdaddy Moonshine
.75 oz. Apple/Cranberry Shrub (recipe below)
2 oz. hot, sweetened white tea

Combine all ingredients and stir.

Apple/Cranberry Shrub:
3 cups cranberries
1 cup Granny Smith apples
2 cups of Sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar

Muddle all ingredients in a large mason jar. Let sit about a day. Add apple cider vinegar, stirring thoroughly to incorporate all ingredients. Let rest about a week, making sure to shake every so often. Strain, filter and bottle.

For William Faulkner’s own hot toddy recipe, click here.

Thanks to Mandy Betts at Melissa Libby & Associates in Atlanta and Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail and Tales of the Toddy, held annually in New Orleans, for providing recipes.