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Hot toddies are warm alcoholic drinks, meant to take the chill off (especially welcome since when they were invented, there was only a fireplace to heat the room).
National Hot Toddy Day is January 11th. National Hot Buttered Rum Day is January 17th. National Mulled Wine Day is March 3rd. That’s a trio of hot cocktails for cold winter days. National Hot Mulled Cider Day is September 30th, making good use of all of that freshly-pressed apple cider.
Beyond toddies, we’ve got 10 other hot cocktails below, but first we present a new recipe: a mezcal hot toddy from one of our favorite distillers, Mezcal Unión.
You can make a hot toddy with any spirit. Scotch and other whiskeys were traditional in Europe. When the trade with the Caribbean brought rum to the Colonies, a rum toddy, a.k.a. hot buttered rum, became a variation.
But Colonials had not yet discovered tequila and mezcal, not to mention saké. Over time, these spirits made their way into hot toddies.
> Mezcal Unión review.
> Mezcal history.
> Hot toddy history.
> Check out more hot toddy recipes below, along with recipes for 10 non-toddy warm alcoholic drinks.
> Hot toddy relatives (glögg, mulled wine and cider, etc.).
> The difference between mezcal and tequila.
OAXACAN HOT TODDY WITH MEZCAL
Note that this recipe makes a cocktail-size drink, four ounces or so. If you want a cup or a mug, increase the ingredients accordingly.
You may wish to make the cocktail size first, then adjust the ingredients to your personal preferences.
Some readers may not be familiar with herbal liqueurs, so we’ve added a section about them below.
Ingredients Per Drink
1 ounce Mezcal Unión Uno
1 ounce hot water
1 ounce apple cider (non-alcoholic—see †footnote
.5 ounce agave or honey (more to taste)
.5 ounce herbal liqueur (see substitutes in the †footnote)
.5 ounce fresh lemon juice
Garnish: lemon wheel
> There’s more about herbal liqueur below, along with food pairings.
Preparation
1. MIX the ingredients together and pour into a rocks glass.
2. GARNISH with a slice of lemon.
10 MORE HOT COCKTAILS
Beyond the many recipes for hot toddy, hot buttered rum, and mulled wine and cider, consider:
Bombardino: An Italian drink made with brandy, advocaat or eggnog, and hot milk.
Caribou: A French-Canadian drink made with red wine, whiskey or brandy, and maple syrup.
Irish Coffee: Made with hot coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar, and topped with whipped cream.
Glühwein: The German version of mulled wine, often made with additional spices like star anise.
Hot Gin Punch: A Victorian-era drink made with gin, honey, lemon, spices, and hot water.
Jägertee (Hunter’s Tea): An Austrian drink made with black tea, red wine, rum, brandy, and spices.
Spiked Hot Chocolate: Various versions using rum, whiskey, or liqueurs like Baileys or Kahlúa.
Swedish Coffee: Coffee with aquavit and spices, topped with whipped cream.
Tom & Jerry: A warm cocktail with hot milk or water, rum, cognac, eggs, sugar and spices (e.g. hot eggnog).
Wassail: A traditional English holiday drink made with apple cider, brandy or sherry, and spices.
MORE HOT TODDY RECIPES
Food 101: “Toddy” refers to a drink made with hot water, sugar, and alcohol. A “hot toddy” specifically refers to a toddy that’s served hot or warm. A toddy is made with hot water because the temperature is needed to dissolve the sugar. But the drink can be served at room temperature, or even with ice.
On to the recipes:
Apple Ginger Hot Toddy
Apple Hot Toddy With Calvados & Sherry
Beer Hot Toddy
Black Tea Toddy & Green Tea Toddy
Caramel Hot Buttered Rum
Chocolate Hot Buttered Rum
Classic Hot Buttered Rum
Glögg
Hot Apple Cider Toddy
Hot Apple Toddy With Sherry Or Calvados
Hot Gin Cider
Mezcal Hot Toddy
Mezcal Naughty Toddy
Mulled Wine
Saké Hot Toddy
Scotch Toddy
Spiced Cider
Witch’s Brew For Halloween
WHAT ARE HERBAL LIQUEURS?
Herbal liqueur is a category of distillate‡ where a base spirit is flavored by adding spices, roots, herbs, fruits, or other botanicals. The sub-categories are:
Bitter liqueurs, e.g. Amaro, Aperol, Chartreuse, Bénédictine, Campari, Punt e Mes.
Chocolate liqueurs, e.g. Chocolate Cream Liqueur (e.g. Godiva, Mozart), Crème de Cacao, Liquore Di Giandujotto, Sabra.
Coffee liqueurs, e.g. Galliano Espresso, Kahlúa, Licor 43, Mr. Black, Patrón XO Cafe, Tia Maria.
Cream liqueurs, e.g. Amarula, Dooley’s, Heather Cream, Irish Cream, Rumchata.
Floral liqueurs, e.g. Crème de Violette, Génépi/Saint Germain/Elderflower, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto, Rose Liqueur.
Fruit liqueurs, e.g. Chambord, Cherry Heering, Grand Marnier, Limoncello, Luxardo, Pimm’s.
Herbal liqueurs, e.g. Bénédictine, Chartreuse, Galliano, Jägermeister, Sambuca.
Nut liqueurs, e.g. Amaretto, DiSaronno, Frangelico, Nocello, Nocino, Nux Alpina.
If you need to buy a bottle, you can also use it in cooking: to make sauces or glazes for meat and poultry, or to flavor or spike desserts like tiramisù or dense cakes (bundts or loaf cakes like pound cake and carrot cake, e.g.).
And of course, there are many cocktail recipes, and easy variations of the wine spritz.
Party time: If you want to get to know herbal liqueurs, why not have a potluck, with everyone bringing a brand from a different category? Food pairings follow.
PAIRING LIQUEUR WITH FOOD
See additional pairings in the footnote†† below.
Savory Apéritif Liqueurs: Pairings
Aged hard cheeses like Parmesan or aged Gouda
Charcuterie, especially pâtés and terrines
Light meats, such as bison, chicken, pork loin, or turkey
Roasted nuts, particularly almonds and walnuts
Smoked salmon or trout, or poached salmon
Sweet Liqueurs: Pairings With Dessert
Almond or hazelnut-based desserts
Apple or pear tarts
Dark chocolate cake or chocolate truffles
Traditional butter cookies
Vanilla ice cream or a complementary flavor, e.g. lemon sorbet with Limoncello
Pairings Examples
Bénédictine: Excellent with blue cheese or fruit-based desserts.
Chartreuse*: Works well with chocolate and citrus desserts.
Galliano: Complements vanilla-based desserts and almond cookies.
Jägermeister: Pairs nicely with strong cheeses and dark chocolate.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LIQUOR & LIQUEUR
Liquor and liqueur are distinct categories of alcoholic beverages.
Liquor (Also Called Spirits)
Examples: Bourbon, brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, whiskey.
Production: Ingredients are fermented and distilled.
Alcohol Content: Higher than liqueur, typically 30%-50% A.B.V.or higher.
Sweetness/Flavors: Generally has no added sugar. Some styles add flavors, e.g. spiced rum.
Use: Liquors are the pure distilled spirits that often serve as the base for liqueurs and cocktails.
Liqueur
Examples: Amaretto, Baileys, Chambord, Grand Marnier, Kahlúa.
Production:Starts with a liquor base.
Sweetness/Flavors: Has added sugar and flavorings such as cream, fruits, herbs, and spices, etc. Unlike spirits, liqueurs are sweet and often syrupy in consistency.
Alcohol Content: Lower alcohol content than liquor, typically 15-30% A.B.V.
Use: Liqueurs are sweet and usually meant for sipping or adding flavor to cocktails.
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[1] Oaxacan hot toddy, made with mezcal instead of more traditional spirits (photos #1 and #4 © Mezcal Unión).
[2] Use the best apple juice or cider you can find. In addition to Red Jacket, we like Knudsen’s (photo © Red Jacket Orchards).
[3] It’s no surprise that Herradura, one of the finest tequila distillers, turns some of that agave into a great agave syrup (photo © Tenley Market Liquor).
[4] Mezcal Unión Uno is an unaged mezcal, but the brand also has expressions that are aged in oak for 8 to 14 years.
[6] The ideal herbal liqueur is Green Chartreuse, a complex blend of 130 herbs and plants that complement mezcal’s smoky, earthy profile. See more about Green Chartreuse in the footnote* below (photo © Sip Liquor).
[6] A rum toddy. Add a pat of butter to make hot buttered rum (photo © Mount Gay Rum).
[7] A gin toddy (photo © Janis Kaugurs | Pexels).
[8] A tequila hot toddy made with blanco (unaged) tequila (photos #8 and #9 © Peligroso Tequila).
[9] A tequila hot toddy made with reposado (aged) tequila..
[10] An apple-ginger toddy (photo © Castello USA).
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*Chartreuse, particularly Green Chartreuse, pairs exceptionally well with mezcal. Both spirits have complex herbal notes and can stand up to each other’s strong flavors. The herbal and slightly sweet notes of Chartreuse complement mezcal’s smoky, earthy character while adding layers of botanical complexity to this toddy.
Green Chartreuse is produced by just one maker, the Carthusian monks at the distillery in their head monastery (Grande Chartreuse) in located in a remote mountain valley in France. The recipe is known only to two monks at any given time.
You can find two versions: Standard Green Chartreuse (55% A.B.V.) and V.E.P. Green Chartreuse (54% A.B.V.) aged in oak casks, often for 8-10 years. A third variety, no longer made, is the rare Tarragona Chartreuse, produced in Spain between 1903-1989 when the monks were expelled from France. These bottles are highly sought after by collectors.
Some other good herbal liqueur options to pair with mezcal include Ancho Reyes Verde (a spicy herbal liqueur made from green chiles), Génépy (Alpine herbal liqueur similar to Chartreuse but lighter), and Strega (Italian herbal liqueur with saffron notes) [source: Claude.ai 2025-01-09].
Substitutes for herbal liqueur include honey mixed with herbal tea (like chamomile, mint, or a blend); herbal bitters; or spiced simple syrup (infused with cinnamon, cloves, and star anise, e.g.). Or, you can borrow some herbal liqueur from a friend or neighbor
†Cider vs. apple juice, the difference: Fresh apple cider is raw apple juice that has not undergone a filtration process. Apple juice has been filtered to remove solids and pasteurized so that it will stay fresh longer. Hard cider has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage.
††Snacks with herbal liqueurs: In general, avoid overly spicy or heavily seasoned snacks.
> Intense herbal liqueurs like Bäska Snaps, Fernet-Branca, Green Chartreuse, Jägermeister Manifest, Zwack Unicum: candied ginger, dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), Marcona almonds.
> Other bitter herbal liqueurs like Amaro, Campari, Cynara: candied orange peel or orange segments, salted dark chocolate, toasted nuts with rosemary.
>Milder herbal liqueurs like Anisette, Bénédictine, Drambuie, Galliano L’Autentico, Strega, Yellow Chartreuse: aged hard cheeses like aged Gouda or Gruyère, fresh apple or pear slices, honey-drizzled figs.
‡A distillate is a liquid product condensed from vapor during distillation. All spirits and liqueurs are considered to be distillates.
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