Whilst the sound of ice rattling against the sides of a cocktail shaker has to be one of the most exciting I can think of, autumn is the time when my mind turns to hot drinks. Hot alcoholic drinks to be precise.
From Halloween onwards, my mind turns to mulling. The urge to mull any alcoholic liquid becomes overwhelming. Experience has shown that it is best to stick to the classics and mull only red wine and cider. But there is a world of cockle-warming fun to be had with the remaining contents of your booze cupboard.
Hot chocolate with brandy – yum! Vodka laced Swedish Glögg – I’m there! A liqueur coffee with Cointreau – thank you and goodnight!
I could go on, but here are a couple of my favourite warming winter drinks:
The Hot Toddy
Or, what I call “nature’s Lemsip”. This drink is great for dark nights when you are feeling snuffly and annoyingly under the weather. Make it just before bedtime and prepare to sleep like a tortoise in hibernation.
I used a good sweet single malt in this, which some may view as sacrilege. Yet it added silky smoothness to the drink that you won’t get with blends. Avoid anything with too much smoke or peat – it’ll taste like ass.
Ingredients
35ml Whisky (I used Auchentoshan)
3-4 cloves
1tsp of clear honey
Freshly boiled water
A slice of lemon, halved
Fresh grated nutmeg
Method
Pour your whisky into a mug, drop in the cloves and stir in the honey. Boil the kettle and pour over the honey and whisky mix, filling the mug. Add the lemon slices, you can also add an extra squeeze of juice if you fancy. Finally, stir well and generously grate fresh nutmeg over the drink. Stir again and the toddy is ready to drink.
Mulled Cider
My husband hates mulled wine. So this is our compromise mull. The danger of any mulled drink is that the aromatic spices take over and leave you with a cauldron of vile liquid that smells and tastes of medicine. The trick is to exercise restraint with the spices and to ensure that they don’t infuse for too long.
Mulled cider feels more appropriate for late autumn than wine. It works a treat when served outdoors, in a mug gripped in gloved hands as the sky is illuminated with fireworks.
This recipe is inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe that I found a couple of Christmases ago. I found his ingredient list rather overwhelming and the idea of pomegranate seeds floating in the drink freaked me out. So this is a seed free and simplified version!
Ingredients
1 litre of scrumpy cider
3 cloves
1 star anise
A generous pinch of grated nutmeg
Half a cinnamon stick, crunched up
Juice of half a large orange
Calvados to serve
Sugar, apple slices and cinnamon sticks to serve
Method
Place the spices into a large saucepan and pour over the cider. Bring to a gentle simmer, squeeze in the orange juice – you can chuck in the orange half too after squeezing. Keep tasting to make sure that the spices don’t overwhelm, once you are happy with the taste, fish out the spices and discard. You can keep the drink warm on a low heat until you want to serve. When ready, ladle into glass latte mugs with a sprinkling of sugar (to taste) and apple slices. If you are feeling flash, add a dash of calvados or brandy to each mug – this will give the cider a warming alcoholic kick. Place a cinnamon stick in each mug in the style of a swizzle stick.
Image via Bekathwia's flickr.