hot toddy

For the beverage made from the sap of various species of palm tree, see palm wine.

For the cold-brewed coffee maker, see Toddy coffee.

For the song "Hot Toddy" (music by Ralph Flanagan, words by Herb Hendler) see those entries.

For the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) cheer, "Hotty Toddy," see Ole Miss Rebels football.

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Hot toddy is a name given to a mixed drink, usually including alcohol, that is served hot. Hot toddies (such as mulled cider) are traditionally drunk before going to bed, or in wet and/or cold weather. They were believed to help cure the cold and flu, but the American Lung Association now recommends avoiding treating the common cold with alcoholic beverages as they cause dehydration.^[1]

Popular etymology

It has been suggested that the name comes from the toddy drink in India^[2], produced by fermenting the sap of palm trees. The term could have been introduced into Scotland by a member of the British East India Company.^[3]

An alternative explanation is given in Allan Ramsay's 1721 poem The Morning Interview, which describes a tea party in which it is said that

"All the rich requisites are brought from far: the table from Japan, the tea from China, the sugar from Amazonia, or the West Indies, but that

'Scotia does no such costly tribute bring,

Only some kettles full of Todian spring.'"

To this passage, Ramsay has appended the note:

"The Todian spring, i.e. Tod's Well, which supplies Edinburgh with water."

Tod's Well and St. Anthony's Well, on the side of Arthur's Seat were two of the wells which very scantily supplied the wants of Edinburgh, and when it is borne in mind that whisky derives its name from water (the Irish Gaelic term uisce beatha ), it seems more likely that "Toddy" in like manner was a facetious name for the pure element. The late Robert Chambers, when Charles MacKay propounded this etymology to him, at first rejected the idea, but afterwards adopted it on the strength of Allan Ramsay's poem.

See also

• Tamagozake, the traditional Japanese cold cure, using heated sake.

References

• MacKay, Charles. A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch (1888)