Name: Hot Toddy (brandy and lemon)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Cognac (brandy); 10 ml Lemon juice; 10 ml Brown sugar syrup; 75 ml Boiling water

Hot Toddy (brandy & lemon)
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Photographed in a Libbey Irish Coffee 6oz

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
¹⁄₃ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ oz	Demerara/Muscovado/brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)
2 ¹⁄₂ oz	Boiling water

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-heat a Toddy glass.
Prepare garnish of coin-sized lemon zest twist.
POUR first 3 ingredients in warmed glass and stir.
TOP with boiling water while spoon still in glass and briefly stir.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Hot Toddy (brandy & lemon) lifestyle image

Hot Toddy (brandy & lemon) lifestyle thumbnail

Review:

Warms the cockles with brandy and a good dose of citrus.

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History:

The first published reference to a Toddy was in England in 1741.

A Brandy Toddy features in Jerry Thomas' Bar-tenders Guide, published in 1862.

Brandy Toddy.
(Use small bar glass.)
1 teaspoon of sugar.
½ wine-glass of water.
1 do. brandy.
Stir with a spoon.
For hot brandy toddy omit the ice, and use boiling water.
Jerry Thomas, Jerry Thomas' Bar-tenders Guide, 1862

Nutrition:

One serving of Hot Toddy (brandy & lemon) contains 136 calories

Alcohol content:

1 standard drinks
10.12% alc./vol. (10.12° proof)
14.2 grams of pure alcohol

More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Hot Drinks cocktails

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Chris Dimal

28th March 2023 at 11:44

Remade this with a proper Cognac, not another French Grape Brandy. I used Camus VS. And strangely, I prefer the previous rendition. I feel like the Cognac made it dryer, with a floral palate combined with strong citrus. I used standard sugar syrup as per the recipe and it felt very tart. Is this only because I'm using a VS? Even then, I'd expect better, as it was rated 5 stars on this site. Any advice?

Michael Z

3rd December 2024 at 02:31

Demerara is the way to go. I would increase to 1/2 oz.

Simon Difford

17th May 2024 at 17:53

Agreed, overly sour. I've updated the recipe and will re-photograph ASAP. The lemon slice in the glass contributes to the imbalance - better with a coin-sized twist.

Chris Dimal

6th January 2023 at 09:30

I'd say the 3.5 rating is accurate. Warms you, but not much more than that. I used Demerara syrup instead of standard sugar syrup, didn't feel like it added much though.

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