A spiced rum hot toddy is spiced rum, honey, lemon and hot water, stirred together and drunk while it is still slightly too hot to gulp. Swap the whisky of the traditional toddy for a rum you spiced yourself and the drink changes character completely: the cinnamon, clove and vanilla warmth comes up through the spirit rather than being dropped in at the last minute, and you can dial it to exactly the strength you like.
It is also the single best argument for having a bottle of homemade spiced rum in the cupboard between November and February. Below: how to build a toddy properly, which of your own rums to reach for, four more warm drinks that suit spiced rum, and how to scale the whole thing up when people arrive.
What makes a hot toddy work?
A toddy is a balance of four things, and every version of it hits the same four notes. There is the spirit, which brings warmth and flavour. There is a sweetener, usually honey, which softens the alcohol and gives the drink body. There is acid, almost always lemon, which stops the whole thing tasting like syrup. And there is hot water, which does something rather clever: warmth pushes the aromatic compounds in the spirit and the spices up into the steam, so a toddy smells enormous before you have tasted a drop.
Get any one of those out of proportion and you feel it immediately. Too much honey and it is cloying, too much lemon and it is a hot lemon drink with a rumour of rum. The other thing worth knowing is that the water should be hot, not boiling. Water straight off a rolling boil scalds the honey flavour and drives off the aromatics you spent three days infusing. Let the kettle sit for a minute before you pour.
How do you build a spiced rum hot toddy?
Warm a heatproof glass or mug first, with a splash of hot water swirled and tipped out. Then, in order:
- A generous measure of spiced rum. One standard measure makes a gentle toddy, a measure and a half makes one that will properly send you to bed.
- A good teaspoon of honey. Add it to the empty warm glass with a little of the hot water first and stir until it has dissolved. Honey added to a full glass sulks at the bottom.
- The juice of a quarter of a lemon, plus the squeezed wedge dropped in if you like a sharper, more marmalade-ish drink.
- Hot water to fill, poured slowly so you can stop when the balance looks right.
- A garnish that earns its place. A cinnamon stick to stir with, a few cloves in a slice of lemon, or a twist of orange peel.
Taste it before you carry it to the sofa. If it is thin, add rum. If it is sharp, add honey. If it is heavy, add water.
Which of your own spiced rums should go in it?
Our spiced rum making kit makes two 700ml batches in two different flavours, and they behave quite differently in a hot drink. The Captain's blend is the classic pirate spicing, and it is the natural toddy rum: those warm baking spices bloom in hot water and the drink smells like December. The Jamaican ginger batch takes the toddy somewhere sharper and more medicinal, in the best sense, and it is the one to reach for when somebody has a sore throat and is being brave about it. With the ginger blend, go easier on the lemon, since the rum is already bringing plenty of bite.
You add your own bottle of inexpensive dark rum for each batch, and it should be a plain dark rum rather than one that is already spiced, because the spicing is the kit's job. Infusion takes around 72 hours, tasting through the pipette as it goes, then you filter out the spices, let it settle for two to three days and filter again for a cleaner, clearer bottle. Under a week, in other words, so a batch started this weekend is a toddy next weekend.
What other warm winter drinks suit spiced rum?
Once the bottle is open, the toddy is only the beginning.
- Hot buttered rum. Mash softened butter with brown sugar and a pinch of mixed spice, drop a spoonful into a mug, add rum and hot water and stir until it turns glossy. Absurd, and absolutely delicious.
- Rum hot chocolate. Proper hot chocolate made with milk and real chocolate, with a measure of the Captain's blend stirred in at the end and a grating of nutmeg on top.
- Mulled apple juice with a rum float. Warm cloudy apple juice with a cinnamon stick, a star anise and a few cloves, then pour the rum in at the end rather than heating it, so the spirit keeps its aromatics.
- Rum coffee. A measure in strong black coffee, lightly sweetened, with cream poured over the back of a spoon if you are showing off. The ginger blend is surprisingly good here.
The rule that runs through all four: add the rum late, and never let the pan boil. Heat is useful for extracting flavour from fruit and spices, and unkind to a spirit you have carefully built.
How do you make a batch for a crowd?
Toddies made one at a time are lovely and completely impractical once there are six of you. Build it in a pan instead. Warm water, honey and lemon juice together until the honey has dissolved and the pan is steaming but not simmering, take it off the heat, then stir in the rum and ladle it into warmed mugs. Adding the rum off the heat keeps the strength and the aroma where you want them.
Two practical notes. Work out the rum by the measure rather than by eye, because a batch in a pan hides how much has gone in, and hot drinks are famously easy to drink quickly. And put out a jug of plain hot water alongside, so anyone who wants theirs longer and lighter can lengthen it themselves.
Homemade spiced rum keeps its strength exactly as it came out of the bottle: infusing adds flavour, not water. Bottled and kept sealed out of direct sunlight, it is at its best within a year. The spiced rum kit is hand-packed in Britain and needs only a bottle of dark rum and a few days of patience.
Spiced rum hot toddy FAQs
What is the best rum for a hot toddy?
A dark spiced rum, because the baking spices carry beautifully in hot water. If you are making your own, the classic pirate-style spicing suits a toddy better than a sharp ginger blend, though both work.
Should the water be boiling?
No. Let the kettle stand for a minute first. Boiling water dulls the honey and drives off the aromatics from the spices, which is exactly what you want to keep.
Can I make a hot toddy without honey?
Yes. Maple syrup, brown sugar or a simple sugar syrup all work, and syrups dissolve more easily than granulated sugar in a full glass. Honey simply gives the roundest body.
Does heating the rum burn off the alcohol?
Barely, at toddy temperatures. Only prolonged simmering drives off a meaningful amount, which is another reason to add the rum off the heat and drink it while it is hot.
How long does homemade spiced rum keep?
Drink it within a year of bottling, kept sealed and out of direct sunlight. It stays at the same strength as the rum you started with, since infusing does not dilute the spirit.
Everything you need for a winter's worth of warm drinks is in our drink making kits.
