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🥤 DRINK

Hot Toddy

Scotch whisky stirred with honey and fresh lemon juice, topped up with just-boiled water and scented with cloves: Scotland's warming nightcap and old-fashioned cure for a winter cold.
Scottish · easy · serves 1
prep 3 min · cook 3 min
~204 cal · 1g protein · 24g carbs · 0g fat · 2g fiber · 19g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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A glass of golden hot toddy with a clove-studded lemon slice and a cinnamon stick
AI-generated illustration
The hot toddy is the Scottish answer to a cold night or a cold coming on: a dram of Scotch whisky, a spoonful of honey and a squeeze of lemon, topped up with hot water. Scottish families hand it down as a remedy the way others hand down chicken soup, and it is still made at home far more often than it is ordered in a bar.
Where it began is less clear. Written references to toddy go back to the eighteenth century, and Scottish drinks writers date the hot whisky toddy to around the 1780s. The name may come from the Hindi taddy, a palm-sap drink met by the British in India, or, as Edinburgh tradition has it, from Tod's Well, a spring that once supplied the city's water. One common explanation for the honey and lemon is that the rough, young whisky of the time needed softening.
Scotland makes it with its own whisky and, when it can, its own heather honey. The old household trick is to stand a spoon in the glass before pouring in the hot water so the glass does not crack.
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Make it yours

✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.

Ingredients

Serves 1
  • 50 ml Scotch whisky
  • 1 tbsp honey, ideally Scottish heather honey
  • 15 ml fresh lemon juice, about half a lemon
  • 1 lemon slice
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
  • 150 ml just-boiled water

Instructions

  • 1
    Boil the kettle and warm a heatproof glass or mug by rinsing it with a little of the hot water, then tip that away.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    If you use a glass, stand a metal spoon in it before pouring in the hot water; the old Scottish trick stops it cracking.
  • 2
    Put the whisky, honey and lemon juice into the warm glass and stir until the honey loosens.
  • 3
    Top up with the hot water and stir until the honey has dissolved completely.
  • 4
    Push the cloves into the lemon slice and drop it in, with the cinnamon stick if using. Let it stand for 2 minutes so the spices scent the drink.
  • 5
    Taste, adding a little more honey or lemon to suit, and drink it hot.
Scottish household tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination

📍
Scotland (Moray Coast). The Moray Coast is Scottish fishing country, where cold-smoking turned haddock into Finnan haddie and the silky soup cullen skink. Oats, root vegetables, dairy, and North Sea fish underpin a kitchen that also gave the world shortbread and, whatever the record says, haggis: the oldest written recipes for it are English, from around 1430, but Scotland adopted it so completely that Burns made it the national dish.
🗺️
United Kingdom. British cooking has quietly reinvented itself, but its heart stays in the roast dinner, the pie, fish and chips, and a great baking tradition. Regional specialties and waves of South Asian influence (the beloved curry house) shape the modern table.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.

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Good to know

Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Hot Toddy?

Scotch whisky stirred with honey and fresh lemon juice, topped up with just-boiled water and scented with cloves: Scotland's warming nightcap and old-fashioned cure for a winter cold.

Where does Hot Toddy come from?

Hot Toddy is a Scottish dish from Scotland (Moray Coast), United Kingdom.

Can Hot Toddy be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

This Hot Toddy recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.

Is Hot Toddy safe for people with food allergies?

Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.

How long does Hot Toddy take to make?

About 6 minutes total (3 minutes prep, 3 minutes cooking), serving 1.

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