The hot toddy may not have originated in the South, but Southerners have long since adopted the drink. In the late 1700s, Virginia planters prepared a weaker variation that could be sipped throughout the workday. Later Mark Twain became a devotee of the libation, drinking one each night before bed. More recently, Todd Thrasher, the drinks expert behind the former PX Lounge in Alexandria, Virginia, relied on one of the toddy’s original purposes as a medicinal cure-all. “It happened last year,” Thrasher said. “The whole family got sick. Me first, then my two-year-old son, then the nanny, then my wife, which made it thirty times worse.” In an effort to speed his wife’s recovery, he concocted a soothing combination of spiced rum, honey, ginger, and lemon. Even if this toddy doesn’t cure what ails you, at least it will make you forget about it for a while. “I told my wife, ‘Honey Bunny, I promise this will make you feel better.’”
Drinks
Hot Toddy: Honey Bunny
1 cocktail
Smooth and embracing, a good toddy is hard to resist

photo: Squire Fox
Ingredients
-
1/4 cup peeled ginger, sliced thin
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 oz. Corsair rum
Preparation
Heat 1 quart of water in a small saucepan, add ginger, and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add honey and whisk until dissolved; add cinnamon stick and lemon juice and continue simmering for 10 minutes more. Strain liquid into a thermos, discarding ginger and cinnamon. (Mixture yields about 8 drinks.) In a tempered glass, pour in rum and 4 ounces of the honey mixture. Garnish with candied ginger or a fresh cinnamon stick.
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