{"id":4287,"date":"2015-02-23T21:01:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T04:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2015-02-23T21:07:53","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T04:07:53","slug":"spiced-apple-toddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/?p=4287","title":{"rendered":"Spiced Apple Toddy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winter finally arrived here in Colorado to the tune of 12-16″ of snow at my house. \u00c2\u00a0And that doesn’t even begin to compare to what the Northeast has seen. \u00c2\u00a0But, you know what that means, friends? \u00c2\u00a0It’s time for hot drinks, with booze. \u00c2\u00a0I went for a hike in the snow yesterday and I definitely needing the warming strength of a toddy when I got home.<\/p>\n

A traditional Hot Toddy<\/a> is simply spirits, hot water, some spices and a bit of sweetness. \u00c2\u00a0I wanted to stay semi-traditional but combine the classic toddy\u00c2\u00a0with hot mulled cider<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0My thought process was a little fragmented starting with apple juice (duh) and brewed black tea, maybe some spices… But that led to a stroke of genius (can I call myself a genius?). \u00c2\u00a0Chai concentrate, specifically Bhakti Chai<\/a> concentrate. \u00c2\u00a0Bhakti is\u00c2\u00a0highly spiced, full of ginger spiciness and already sweetened. \u00c2\u00a0Add a touch of water to bring the sweetness down and the Spiced Apple Toddy was born.<\/p>\n

But, hold your horses. \u00c2\u00a0We need to talk liquor for a moment. \u00c2\u00a0Surprising, I know. \u00c2\u00a0Like I say in the Hot Toddy post, you have to go with a brown liquor. \u00c2\u00a0There is something inherently warming about a barrel aged spirit. \u00c2\u00a0For me, the only real option is whiskey. \u00c2\u00a0Or in this case, whisky. \u00c2\u00a0Whisky’s flavor profile of vanilla, oak, caramel and spices just works too perfectly and it has a certain gravitas. \u00c2\u00a0I mean, you never hear of an old timer pulling out his flask of bubble gum vodka.<\/p>\n

For this cocktail, I reached for George Dickel No. 12<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0It has a bold but smooth character that gives it the spine to stand up to the bold flavors of the chai and sweetness of the juice. \u00c2\u00a0Plus, that boldness isn’t harsh which lets it blend into the cocktail in a truly harmonious way. \u00c2\u00a0Pro tip time. \u00c2\u00a0Keep the pour of whisky a bit light. \u00c2\u00a0Lets you hydrate, warms you up AND makes is way easier when you want a second…or ninth.<\/p>\n

\"Spiced<\/a><\/p>\n

Spiced Apple Toddy<\/strong><\/pre>\n
3 oz Apple Juice\r\n<\/strong>3 oz Bhakti Chai Concentrate\r\n<\/strong>2 oz Water\r\n<\/strong>1 1\/4 oz George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whisky\r\n<\/strong>Orange Twist\r\n<\/strong>Slice of Apple<\/strong><\/pre>\n
1) Combine the chai, apple juice and water and heat to nearly boiling\r\n<\/strong>2) Mix in the whisky\r\n<\/strong>3) Garnish with an apple slice and an orange twist<\/strong><\/pre>\n
Final thoughts. \u00c2\u00a0You can (and should) switch up the chai, juice and whisky for whatever your personal favorites are. \u00c2\u00a0But if you haven’t had Bhakti Chai, you really need to. \u00c2\u00a0The same goes for the water, tweak that amount to whatever fits your palate. \u00c2\u00a0This cocktail, like any, is meant to make you (or your guests) happy. \u00c2\u00a0So do what works for you.<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a0 The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Winter finally arrived here in Colorado to the tune of 12-16″ of snow at my house. \u00c2\u00a0And that doesn’t even begin to compare to what the Northeast has seen. \u00c2\u00a0But, you know what that means, friends? \u00c2\u00a0It’s time for hot drinks, with booze. \u00c2\u00a0I went for a hike in the snow yesterday and I definitely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,36],"tags":[160,10,198],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes","category-review","tag-hot-toddy","tag-recipe","tag-whisky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4291,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions\/4291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cocktailhacker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}