Hot Toddy - Tea Cocktail

Imagine sat at home staring out of the window at a cold winters evening just as Jack Frost arrives. What could be more inviting than lighting the fire and settling into your favourite comfy armchair, whilst embracing a glass of hot toddy?!

What is a Hot Toddy - Tea Cocktail?

A Hot Toddy is a mixture of a spirit (usually whisky), hot water and honey/sugar. Additional ingredients such as lemon, orange, cloves or cinnamon can be included if desired. We’ve taken this simple recipe and adapted it making it a bit tea centric by infusing hot tea with our Camellia Black Tea Liqueur. After all we are tea lovers!

Recipe

• 125ml hot black tea
• 25ml Camellia Black Tea Liqueur
• Optional - honey to taste
• Optional - slice of ginger

Tools

• Tea cup - There is some debate as to what the best material your tea cup should be made from. In short the inside of the cup needs to be slippery smooth to stop any of the flavours escaping. Secondly the lip needs to be thin, which allows for the liquid to roll into your mouth just as wine in a wine glass would. Of course we need to be practical and with that in mind both porcelain and glass are perfect for tea cups, offering a super smooth inside, coupled with a wafer thin lip. Perfect!
• Jigger - Bartending tool/dual ended cup for measuring spirits that is normally dual ended (50ml/25ml)

Method

Use the best quality tea you can find and it doesn’t matter too much if it’s loose or bagged. We’d recommend a single origin black tea like Dian Hong from China's mountainous Yunnan province. This offers a mellow cup with hints of toffee, ending with a malty rich mouthfeel. Quickly steep your black tea for no more than 10 seconds if using a tea bag and 20 seconds for loose tea (or to taste). We're reducing the amount of natural tannins by quickly steeping the tea, as we’re aiming for a rounded smoothness to the hot tea.

Carefully select your tea cup and add a shot of Camellia Black Tea Liqueur into it. Slowly pour your hot tea into the cup and gently stir. Personally, we find there’s enough sweetness from the liqueur in the Hot Toddy but by adding one or two drops of honey brings an additional yumminess. Lastly, to ginger or not? We’ll leave this decision to you! Now go and find that comfy armchair, relax, sip and unwind.

Origin of Hot Toddy - 1780's

The word toddy originates from India as this is a palm wine produced by fermenting the sap from palm trees. It’s earliest known use to mean "a beverage made of alcoholic liquor with hot water, sugar, and spices" is from 1786.