Hot Toddy
Medicinal Cocktail
Hey, I'm Red, I'm 23, I live in the outskirts of Appalachia, and my family is from deep within the mountains. The origin of this drink is hotly debated, but most likely Scottish. I've been making and drinking this cocktail as long as I can remember.
Before I get onto the recipe, in true blogger fashion, let me start with some background.
Appalachian medicine is often times odd, to say the least. From pouring piss in an infected ear to nursing a sick child over the threshold of the home with their head outside, these beliefs are born from desperation and necessity. When you don't have access to clean drinking water or a doctor's office, you make do. And yes, both of those examples are things people in my family have done, and yes, they did work at least half of the time, otherwise the belief wouldn't live on. (The peeing in someone's infected ear is typically reserved nowadays as a joking threat, but my mother and father, in the 80s, did do it).
Now, in Appalachia, it's not uncommon for children to be given alcohol. I was drinking hot toddy's whenever I got a cold or the flu or strep for as long as I can remember. Whiskey rubbed on the gums of teething babies, sick children given this cocktail to clean them out. (No, I didn't grow up into an alcoholic). Despite me being 23, most of the things I grew up doing would send most parents around my parent's age into a coma, the above examples barely graze the surface of Appalachian parenting.
But I still make this cocktail once a week in the winter or once a day if I'm sick.
This is the recipe my family uses, so by all means it's probably different than the ones you find on other sites
On to the recipe!
Ingredients
Water (can use moon water)
Tea (black, peppermint, ginger, earl grey) (black is used most commonly in my family, but we've recently gotten a big jar of honey Citron ginger tea and that's most of the ingredients knocked out so we use that now)
1 stick of cinnamon per cup of tea
1 knob of ginger
A splash of lemon juice
Honey to taste
1/2-2 shots of whiskey (we usually use Jack Daniel's, any will do. For an extra kick use a "Fire" blend; Jack Fire, Jim Beam Fire, American Honey Sting, the fire will help knock your sinuses loose) (the fire may make it taste bad, but it'll be worth it) (or you could use a honey blend)
Instruction
Cleanse your space spiritually and physically, don't cook with dirty dishes
Set your intention
Boil the water and brew the tea according to the instruction
Add the lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger as the tea steeps
Add honey and whiskey
Stir well, counterclockwise to banish illness
Drink up and enjoy while still hot
Again, not the fanciest and best tasting thing ever, but it works.