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Happy Hour: Sweeney (Hottie) Toddy

partysugar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:02 -0700

Now that Fall is here we can start to think about cold-weather cocktails, especially the warming toddy. With its burnt orange color, caramelized sugar rim, and creative name, this modern variation of the classic drink is not your grandmother's nightcap. Made with rum and Canton Ginger Liquor, it's delicious and surprisingly easy to drink. Created especially for my birthday party, by superstar bartender Aaron Smith, of 15 Romolo, the Sweeney (Hottie) Toddy is also a wonderful concoction for a Halloween party. Lighting the glass on fire to caramelize the rim makes for a fabulous party trick! Learn how it's done and read more.

Sweeney (Hottie) Toddy
From Aaron Smith at 15 Romolo

Ingredients

sugar, for caramelizing rim of glass
1/4 ounce fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce Canton Ginger Liquor
1.5 ounces Pampero Anniversario Rum
1.5 ounces hot water
orange twist, optional for garnish

Directions

To create the sugar rim, lightly wet the rim of a wine glass, and dip in a plate of sugar. Then, using a lighter with a handle or a kitchen torch, light the sugar on fire. Be sure to use a glass that can withhold heat. The sugar will melt and caramelize. Turn the glass while the flames burn to ensure even caramelization. Set the glass aside to cool.
In a cocktail shaker combine the orange juice, Canton, rum, and hot water. Stir to combine.
Strain into prepared glass, garnish with an orange twist, and enjoy immediately while the mixture is still warm.

Makes 1 cocktail.

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Happy Hour: Hot Buttered Rum

partysugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:15:31 -0800

After putting together a quiz about hot buttered rum, I couldn't let the weekend pass without making a batch. So I decided to experiment with a hot buttered rum batter recipe. The batter - a mixture of butter, powdered and brown sugar, spices, and melted ice cream - is frozen and can be used at anytime, To make the toddy, rum and boiling water are added to a heaping tablespoon of batter. This was incredibly easy to make, with a rich, warming, not-too-sweet taste. In fact writing this has got me craving one right now! For the recipe, read more.

Hot Buttered Rum
Modified From Sheri Marr at All Recipes

For batter:
1/2 lb. butter
1/2 lb. brown sugar
1/2 lb. confectioners' sugar
1/2 qt. vanilla ice cream, softened
1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
For drink:
1 shot rum per drink
boiling water

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Whisk in brown sugar and confectioners sugar.
Remove from heat, and whisk in the ice cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Pour mixture into a plastic container, seal, and freeze.
To make a drink: in a coffee mug, measure 1 heaping tablespoon hot buttered rum batter. Add the rum, then fill cup with boiling water. Stir, and sprinkle top of drink with nutmeg, if desired.

Makes about 6 cups batter.

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National Hot Toddy Day

partysugar — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:02:45 -0800

Today is National Hot Toddy Day (I may like saying National Hot Toddy Day more than I liked saying National Roast Suckling Pig Day)! A hot toddy is a warm cocktail that I like to drink when I'm in the mountains of Aspen. Okay, so I've never been to Aspen, but I imagine that a hot toddy would be the ideal drink on a snowy afternoon at a ski lodge. However, it would also make a great drink on any cold, winter day. So, instead of having your usual afternoon coffee or tea, have a hot toddy. For the recipe, read more

Hot Toddy
From Drinks Mixer

1 tbsp honey
3/4 glass tea
2 shots brandy
1 slice lemon

Brew tea and fill a tall glass 3/4 full.
Mix in honey. Mix in brandy shots.
Add lemon slice and enjoy.

Serves 1.

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Trend Alert: Hibiscus Drinks

YumSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:00:45 -0800

Last June, I discovered the sweet virtue of dried hibiscus flowers. I picked them up at Trader Joe's and, on a whim, stirred them into a pitcher of lemonade. The hibiscus lent a sweet, tart flavor, as well as a beautiful blush color.

Perhaps by putting hibiscus flowers into that pitcher of sparkling ade, I was onto something: Hibiscus, with its fruity, tannic flavor, has been appearing in all sorts of beverages, from sparkling sodas to hot cocktails.

I've seen Ooba, a sparkling hibiscus soda, everywhere from this year's Fancy Foods Show to the drink aisle at the local Whole Foods Market. On her new show, Giada at Home, Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis entertained with a spiked hibiscus tea, made by boiling dried hibiscus in sugar water, straining out the flowers, and mixing in lemon juice and vodka. Both beverages, with their punchy pink color and notes of cranberry flavor, are drinks that would satisfy on a hot Summer day.

Not that hibiscus is only to be enjoyed during Summer. This month, Bon Appétit proclaims Winter cocktail The Laureate to be the "new hot toddy." In the mix? Añejo tequila, agave nectar, and - you guessed it - dried hibiscus flowers, which add "a bit of tartness and a rich ruby red color."

Can you see hibiscus drinks being a trend that really takes off? Have you enjoyed any hibiscus-flavored beverages lately?