Spiced Clementine Hot Toddy
On a cold night high up in the Andean highlands, my husband and I huddled with each other. We haven’t felt so good for the past few days since arriving in the Incan town of Ollantaytambo. Despite chewing numerous coca leaves, the altitude sickness combined with the jet lag still caught up to us.
We lost our appetite for food, got constant headaches, and felt tired all the time. It was also so difficult to sleep due to the nausea and headache. On the 4th day, we had a pachamanca lunch at El Albergue. Pachamanca is a pre-Columbian way of cooking herb-marinated meat, tubers, and vegetables in a dug-up underground oven. It was a fun experience but swallowing the food was quite a challenge because we didn’t feel so well.
We decided to hang around the farm after lunch and treat ourselves to a nice, cozy dinner there. During dinner, we stumbled upon “hot toddy” on the drink menu, and I don’t know what made us think that drinking alcohol during altitude sickness was a good idea. A sip of the toddy, and we thought oh la la…this is delicious! Two sips, three sips, and without even realizing it, we ordered a second glass each. It was the first time since we arrived that we actually regained our appetite. The rest of the evening was a blur. I’m not saying the hot toddy cured us, but after that meal, we had the best sleep of the trip so far.
Today, we’ll make the last item on our Christmas menu, spiced clementine hot toddy. A classic hot toddy is made from whiskey, honey, and lemon. However, in this recipe, we’ll use clementine instead of lemon to celebrate its abundance in this season. This recipe serves one person, but you can easily multiply it. In case you missed the previous dishes on the Cozy Christmas menu, here you go:
Spiced clementine hot toddy
I’m not saying the hot toddy cured us, but after that meal, we had the best sleep of the trip so far.
I wish you all a beautiful and joyful Christmas and have fun with the Christmas dinner preparation! See you in the next newsletter!
Serves 1
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: 1/3
Keep for 3 days, refrigerated (warm the toddy before serving).
Ingredients:
45g/ 1.5 oz. rye or bourbon whiskey
60g/ 2 oz fresh clementine juice (about 2-3 clementines)
1 tbsp honey or to taste
A pinch of ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground nutmeg
175ml/ ¾ cup boiling water
1 cinnamon stick, for garnish (optional)
Steps:
In a heatproof pouring jar, combine the whiskey, fresh clementine juice, honey, and spices. Stir until the honey is dissolved.
Carefully pour in the boiling water and stir gently to combine all the ingredients.
Pour the toddy into an old-fashioned glass or mug through a strainer. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and serve warm.