A hot toddy is a hot mixed drink typically made from a spirit, most often whisky, brandy or rum, combined with hot water, honey or sugar, and lemon, and often warmed further with spices such as cinnamon or cloves. It is commonly taken as a comforting home remedy for cold and flu symptoms, valued for its warmth and soothing ingredients even though its medicinal effect is folk tradition rather than established medicine. Despite the shared word toddy, the hot toddy is a distinct preparation from palm toddy, the fermented palm sap drink of South and Southeast Asia and West Africa, sharing only the older English sense of toddy as a mixed or sweetened drink.
Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)This is the earliest known use of the word toddy in the sense of a hot alcoholic drink with sugar and spices; the general word toddy is older, tracing to fermented palm sap drinks in India. Origin RegionThis refers to the origin of the word toddy itself, from fermented palm sap drinks in India; the hot toddy as a hot spiced spirit drink is documented in English from 1786. Connections
Associated With
Uses Ingredient
Sources
1. Hot toddy - Wikipedia
Etymology section, first sentence
Its earliest known use to mean "a beverage made of alcoholic liquor with hot water, sugar, and spices" is from 1786.
Etymology section, second sentence
The word toddy comes from the toddy drink in India, produced by fermenting the sap of palm trees.
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