RALPH LAUREN MAGAZINE
WINTER WARMER by Amy Zavatto
When someone in my family would catch a nasty cold, one of the tried-and-true home remedies my Irish American mother used was the hot toddy. She’d boil a mug of water, add a shot of scotch whisky and a squeeze of lemon, and swirl in two teaspoons of honey to help ease a sore throat. Mostly debunked by modern medicine, the hot toddy now shows up more frequently in barrooms than sickrooms, and with good reason. The toddy is for the chilly night, the warm fireplace, the brisk afternoon, the romantic corner table. The seasonal tipple will be honored in New Orleans at the fourth annual Tales of the Toddy festival on December 10, as well as with its own national day of celebration on January 11. After the holiday hustle ends, we could all use a cheerful warm-up in the form of a fragrant, spiked sipper!
“The toddy is definitely making a comeback,” says cocktail historian Jared Brown, who is coauthor, with wife Anistatia Miller, of Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail and Spirituous Journey. “People are rediscovering classic drinks, and the toddy was already old centuries before the cocktail was born.” Indeed, for such a simple drink, the toddy has a pretty fascinating backstory. Like the word “punch,” which names another pre-Prohibition drink that’s recently resurged in popularity, “toddy” is a Hindi term (tãri) for the sap drawn from a palm tree, which is the source of arrack, the original spirit used to make the drink—a process that is described in detail in Marco Polo’s thirteenth-century memoir Il Milione.
Stranger than its etymology is that, according to the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, the hot toddy began as a cold quaff but was adapted to warm the bones (and spirits) of sailors and sea merchants chilled by long days on the water. British merchants from the East India Company found the drink and returned home with it. In Europe the arrack was soon replaced by whiskey, brandy, or rum, but the original combo of cinnamon, clove, and sugar remained part of the brew. Not long after, as New World citrus fruits became available to the merchant classes, oranges and lemons found their way into the drink permanently. Another common ingredient you’ll find in the toddy is tea, which was also likely added by British merchants influenced by their travels.
Though its chief associations are British, the toddy soon jumped the pond. “Rum was the most common toddy spirit in colonial America, primarily because at that time the northeast—along with eastern Canada—was the largest rum-producing region in the world,” explains Brown. “However, you can make it with any spirit. I love a few slices of fresh ginger in a hot toddy, and I’m partial to toddies made with Irish whiskey or dark rum or gin or tequila, and—you get the idea! It’s a very versatile drink.” (For those battling the sniffles, Brown suggests a Southern Comfort toddy: “Beats Robitussin on effectiveness, flavor, and overall style.”)
But as all things old are new behind the bar these days, toddies are suddenly becoming as hot as the name implies. You’ll find them on the cocktail menus not only at ski resorts but also at chic city bars like Eastern Standard, in Boston; Bar Savona, just outside Philadelphia; Vermilion, in Alexandria, Virginia; and PDT, in New York, where at press time mixologist Jim Meehan was devising a toddycentric winter menu. When it opened a little over a year ago, Cafe Nell in Portland, Oregon, had only one toddy on its cocktail menu, but the drink was such a hit that Darren Creely, who owns the cozy American bistro with his husband, Van Creely, decided to make an entire menu of toddies this year—from the classic citrus and spice to a hot rum mojito. “The week we launched it, the weather was unseasonably warm,” says Creely with a laugh, “but within three days I had people coming in because they had heard about the menu and wanted to try this one or that one, despite the weather.” Word-of-mouth trendiness aside, Creely says the toddy’s renewed appeal is more basic: “When it’s cold and dreary, people want things that warm them on the inside when there’s no sun to warm them on the outside. It’s much more soothing to the soul.”
Cafe Nell’s Classic Toddy
“Make sure you heat the mug beforehand,” says Creely. A toasty mug not only warms up the chilled and room-temperature ingredients faster, but keeps the drink warm longer.
1¾ oz. brandy
1 tsp. honey
1 slender lemon wedge
3 oz. hot water
1 cinnamon stick
Dash of nutmeg
http://entertainment.ralphlauren.com/magazine/editorial/ho09/toddy.asp
MIX MAGAZINE
HOW TO GIVE YOUR COCKTAILS A MAKEOVER
by Ashley Gartland, July 2009
CAFE NELL’S Bloody Mary turns heads. It isn’t the drink’s size or the restorative powers of this hangover cure that causes brunch customers to stare — it’s the garnish. The elaborate tower’s a medley of pickled veggies, poached jumbo prawns, pepperoncini, sharp cheddar cheese blocks and Spanish-style chorizo, all rising from a robust red cocktail called the Mary Nell. “It’s the most photographed thing in the restaurant,” says Cafe Nell co-owner Darren Creely. “When we serve it, digital cameras and camera phones come out.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/how-to/give-your-cocktails-a-makeover.html
Portland Monthly
Winter Warmup
Hot Toddy Time
Cafe Nell has six ways to warm up
by: Kaitlyn Evans on Oct 15, 2009
The hot toddy is a good excuse to be buzzing at any hour of a very cold day. Some say the toddy originated as a tolerable way for 19th century womenfolk to drink scotch, others claim it was invented as a cure for the common cold, yet all we really need to know about this wondrous warming beverage is its four main components:
alcohol hot liquid sweetener hint of citrus
It’s like a soothing cup of tea—with a bonus kick.
Darren Creely of Cafe Nell has caught the toddy bug, incorporating six strikingly different toddy blends into his fall cocktail menu. Creely believes that with the damp, at times dreary, weather that plagues Portland all fall and winter, toddies are just as fit for a nightcap as they are an afternoon pick-me-up. From the unexpectedly refreshing Hot Mojito to the rich finish of the Hot Buttered Rum, there’s a blend suited to every palate—not to mention every symptom —this chilly season.
Can’t make it further than the corner liquor store? Cafe Nell has given us a few toddy recipes to try at home:
Classic Hot Toddy
1.75 ounces brandy
1 heaping teaspoon honey
Hot water
Slice lemon (1 quarter)
Place spoon filled with honey into pre-heated specialty coffee glass/mug/cup
Add brandy Top with hot water to within 1/4″ of rim Squeeze lemon wedge into hot water. Drop squeezed lemon wedge into cup Stir to incorporate honey into the toddy
Cup warm mug with two hands, breathe, and gulp.
Classic Buttered Rum & batter recipe
1 stick unsalted butter (room temp.)
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt (optional)
All Spice can be substituted for the the nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove just keep in mind t that the Clove can be very strong and easily take over all of the other spices
Hot water
1 3/4 oz. dark rum
(I prefer Mt. Gay dark rum)
In a mixing bowl cream together the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and vanilla. Once completely mixed together, chill for 20 minutes until firm. Put 2 rounded tablespoons in a pre-heated specialty coffee glass, add the dark rum and top off with hot water. Mix thoroughly until all of the batter has dissolved. Serve with the mixing
spoon still in the glass. Cradle the cup in your hands and sip. The Hot Butter Rum batter will keep until completely used. Skip the rum for a kid-friendly drink.
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/blogs/portland-plated/hot-toddy/#
Have an Oregon Royale to help wetlands
Cafe Nell’s special cocktail benefits The Wetlands Conservancy
This holiday season, raise a glass while raising funds for Oregon’s wetlands! Cafe Nell has created a spirited opportunity to support sustainability in Oregon – the Oregon Royale – a localized version of the traditional French cocktail Kir Royale. This celebratory sipper is a flute of sparkling wine topped with Clear Creek Cranberry Liqueur and a twist of lemon, with $1 from each cocktail going to The Wetlands Conservancy and their efforts to permanently protect and conserve Oregon’s greatest wetlands.
“The Oregon Royale is the ultimate taste of the season. It’s festive, it’s seasonal and it gives back to our community,” says Darren Creely, owner and bartender of Cafe Nell, an American brasserie in Northwest Portland.
Clear Creek Cranberry Liqueur is the Portland distillery’s newest eau de vie, and is made with Oregon cranberries grown along the Southern Oregon coast, a region and industry that the Wetlands Conservancy is working in to provide tools and advice for land management and restoration.