Can A Toddy Cure My Pneumonia?

The blog has been updated rather loosely lately because I just can’t seem to shake this illness I have been dealing with for the past few weeks. I thought I was better, but apparently, that was just a fluke because I apparently have pneumonia. One would think I would have found this out earlier, but while bartending as a profession has tons of advantages over traditional careers, health benefits are rarely included. Consequently, faced with the options of paying medical expenses out of pocket or toughing it out and letting it pass, I decided to allow this cold run its course. I didn’t really consider in the pneumonia factor. Now, sick as dog (with pneumonia) this seems like a rather poor decision. Oh, and the expenses? I ended up having to spend 114 dollars on prescriptions alone, and that includes the free samples the doc gave me. Will somebody please fix the prescription drug situation in this country? Maybe the alternative is medicinal cocktails.

For centuries, alcohol was used as an elixir for any illness. The result was a wonderful advancement in the ingenuity of spirits and the ongoing mixing of these spirits with bitters and sugar to create tonics that could be both easily consumed and somewhat effective at fighting disease. In fact, this mixture of spirit, bitters, sugar, and water eventually became known as the “Cocktail”. Most cocktail connoisseurs are aware of these origins, but few discuss the role of the Toddy in the development of modern drinks.

In fact, the “Cocktail” appeared after the Toddy, which was prescribed to sick patients for centuries before Peychaud invented bitters in the early 1800’s. However, toddies have no specific origin and can be made in countless fashions. In many ways, this made doctors some of the earliest bartenders, forced to find pleasing ways to deliver their potions. Sugars, juices, and water all presented opportunities to introduce often unpleasing spirits to people everywhere. Amidst all of the notes, I am beginning to wonder why my girlfriend spends all that time studying for med school; she should just spend more time with me.

This is unlikely as she doesn’t have any free time at all, and there have been several medical advancements since the age of prescribing brandy for SARS. Perhaps, Caroline from the Art of the Drink can come make me one. After all, when her husband Darcy was sick recently, she also wrote a post on the Toddy. It seems like the practice of drinking a Toddy when sick didn’t die with the advent of modern medicine after all – take that med school. With so many different ways to make a Toddy, with route should I choose? Shoshanna Cohen recently posted a great Toddy recipe on Imbibe’s blog which seems really tempting at this moment, but I love creating things myself and like to start out by looking at an older recipe.

Dale DeGroff in The Craft of the Cocktail notes in his discussion of Toddies that the 1801 book The American Herbal Samuel Sterns offered the following definition of a Toddy:

Samuel Sterns Toddy

? oz. Water
? oz. Rum or Brandy
? Sugar
? Nutmeg

Mix the ingredients together.

Sounds great, but I don’t particularly like addition of nutmeg. I want my Toddy to be as smooth as possible. DeGroff also points out that Jerry Thomas bartending author of How to Mix Drinks (1862) actually noted in a difference between Toddies and Slings to hinge upon the addition of nutmeg. Slings had it; toddies didn’t. But even Thomas couldn’t limit himself to just one Toddy, his book (which you can find over at Art of the Drink) has the following recipes included, which despite the previous distinction from slings, may have nutmeg:

Hot Brandy Toddy.
(Use small bar-glass, hot.)
Take 1 tea-spoonful of fine white sugar.
1 wine-glass of brandy.

Dissolve the sugar in a little boiling water, add the brandy, and pour boiling water into the glass until it is two-thirds full Grate a little nutmeg on top.

Cold Gin Toddy.
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 1 tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar.
½ wine-glass of water.
1 wine-glass of gin.
1 lump of ice.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the brandy and
ice, and stir with a spoon.

Hot Gin Toddy.
(Use small bar-glass, hot.)
Take 1 tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar.
1 wine-glass of Holland, or Old Tom gin (as preferred).

Dissolve the sugar in boiling water, add the gin, and pour boiling water into the glass until it is twothirds full.

Cold Whiskey Toddy.
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 1 tea-spoonful of fine white sugar.
1 wine-glass of Bourbon, or rye whiskey.
1 lump of ice.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the whiskey and ice, and stir with a spoon.

To make HOT WHISKEY TODDY, dissolve the sugar in boiling water, omit the ice, and pour boiling water into
the glass, until it is two-thirds full.

Cold Irish Whiskey Toddy.
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 1 tea-spoonful of fine white sugar.
1 wine-glass of Kinahan’s L. L. or Jamieson’s
whiskey.
2 wine-glasses of water.
1 lump of ice.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the whiskey and ice, and stir with a spoon. This is a delicious drink if made with either of the above brands of whiskey, preferably the first.

Something tells me I should go for the Gin Toddy. After all, gin has medicinal origins as well and was used in mixtures such as gin and tonic to prevent malaria during colonial expeditions. But, gin just doesn’t sound like a Toddy to me. When I think of a Toddy, I think of something somewhat thick and warm. Gin somehow doesn’t seem to fit this description to me. Even though gin can work with honey in cocktails rather effectively (just make a lavender-honey syrup and start experimenting), I just am not willing to try the Gin Toddy yet. I really only plan on getting up off of this couch for one drink, and I want it to be ideal. Plus, there’s the whole malaria doesn’t equal pneumonia thing.

Time to try something new. As I discussed earlier, gastriques have kind of been my thing lately, and I think a nice thick gastrique would work perfect in a Toddy. Time to get in the kitchen…

Ok, I am back. I made a dark deep gastrique extending on another I made the other day that is going to work perfectly. I caramelized some white and brown sugar together, added some red wine vinegar, and flavored it with vanilla bean, cinnamon sticks, and anise. The result is a deep, dark gastrique that I reduced until it became almost molasses like - perfect for a Toddy. Time to make my Toddy –

The Pneumonia Toddy

2 oz Brandy
1 Tsp. Vanilla/Cinnamon/Anise Gastrique
2 oz. Hot Water
1 Anise Star
1 Cinnamon Stick
Lemon Twist

Mix the hot water and the gastrique together in a tempered glass until the gastrique dissolves in the water. Pour the gastrique/water mixture over the Brandy in whichever glass you feel fits best, being sure to choose a glass with a handle or wait for the Toddy to become cool enough to touch. Rim the glass with the lemon twist and drop it, the anise star, and the cinnamon stick in the glass.

Man, this Toddy’s awesome! You’ve got to try this when it starts getting cold in the upcoming months or when you are feeling sick. Just make sure you look out for this if you’re taking meds:

Oops, oh well, time to put the Toddy down. I still have to load this on the blog, and I don’t think its going to make it there if I get all the way through the Toddy. I’d share it with someone to not let it go to waste, but then it would really be “The Pneumonia Toddy” wouldn’t it? Toddies are great mixtures that get attention when you get sick, but they probably need more credit for their role in the evolution of drinks, and based on tonight’s outcomes, they definitely need more experimentation. Alright, time for another nap; writing this and the three sips of my Toddy made me quite tired. Damn pneumonia!