Hot toddy Totally Explained

Everything about Hot Toddy totally explained

ť For the beverage made from the sap of various species of palm tree, see palm wine.

Hot toddy is a name given to a mixed drink that's served hot, believed to have originated in Scotland. Although there are many variations, essential ingredients are:

a hot beverage which may be tea, coffee, cocoa, water, etc.
an alcoholic spirit such as brandy, rum, or whiskey.
usually a sweetener, such as honey, sugar or syrup.

Other ingredients that are often added:

spices, usually "brown" spices such as cinnamon or cloves.

citrus, such as lemon or orange. Lemonade can be used instead of hot water and citrus; this is a modern variant.

a little butter. Hot toddies (such as mulled cider) are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in wet and cold weather. They were believed to help cure the cold and flu, but the American Lung Association now recommends avoiding treating the common cold with alcoholic beverages as they've no curative effect and cause dehydration.

Popular etymology

It has been suggested that the name comes from the toddy drunk in India, produced by fermenting the sap of palm trees. The term could have been introduced into Scotland by a member of the British East India Company.
An alternative explanation is given in Allan Ramsay's 1721 poem The Morning Interview, which describes a tea party in which it's said that ť "All the rich requisites are brought from far: the table from Japan, the tea from China, the sugar from Amazonia, or the West Indies, but that

:'Scotia does no such costly tribute bring, ť :Only some kettles full of Todian spring.'"

To this passage, Ramsay has appended the note:
ť "The Todian spring, for example Tod's Well, which supplies Edinburgh with water."

Tod's Well and St Anthony's Well, on the side of Arthur's Seat were two of the wells which very scantily supplied the wants of Edinburgh, and when it's borne in mind that whisky derives its name from water (the Scottish Gaelic term uisge), it seems more likely that "Toddy" in like manner was a facetious name for the pure element. The late Robert Chambers, when Charles MacKay propounded this etymology to him, at first rejected the idea, but afterwards adopted it on the strength of Allan Ramsay's poem.

Further Information

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