Friday Cocktails: Calvados Hot Toddy

Fall is my favorite time of year. The temperature is dropping, the multicolored leaves are crunching under my feet as I make my way towards the subway, and I generally start getting a bit of a cold. To be clear, getting a cold isn't that great—but treating it is, since my go-to remedy for the sniffles is a toddy: a hot, heady mixture of whiskey, honey, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves. I've stuck with that recipe for years, but a recent evening tasting through the extensive selection of calvados-based cocktails at The Barclay Bar and Grill introduced me to a modified toddy that makes getting an autumn cold even more fun to treat. Inspired by the flavor profile of calvados, a French apple brandy that generally carries notes of vanilla, stone fruits, and baking spices, bartender Jose Torrella simply combines the spirit with hot apple cider and tops it with a calvados-spiked whipped cream. The resulting hot cocktail tastes like autumn in a glass. It's a cinch to re-create at home, so any given night of the week you can find me curled up in front of the television, blanket wrapped around me, a warm calvados hot toddy in hand to cure whatever ails me.

Calvados Hot Toddy
LAURA SANT
Drinks

Friday Cocktails: Calvados Hot Toddy

By Farideh Sadeghin


Published on November 9, 2013

Fall is my favorite time of year. The temperature is dropping, the multicolored leaves are crunching under my feet as I make my way towards the subway, and I generally start getting a bit of a cold. To be clear, getting a cold isn't that great—but treating it is, since my go-to remedy for the sniffles is a toddy: a hot, heady mixture of whiskey, honey, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves. I've stuck with that recipe for years, but a recent evening tasting through the extensive selection of calvados-based cocktails at The Barclay Bar and Grill introduced me to a modified toddy that makes getting an autumn cold even more fun to treat. Inspired by the flavor profile of calvados, a French apple brandy that generally carries notes of vanilla, stone fruits, and baking spices, bartender Jose Torrella simply combines the spirit with hot apple cider and tops it with a calvados-spiked whipped cream. The resulting hot cocktail tastes like autumn in a glass. It's a cinch to re-create at home, so any given night of the week you can find me curled up in front of the television, blanket wrapped around me, a warm calvados hot toddy in hand to cure whatever ails me.

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