Scotland, 18th century.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | WHISKEY | 40 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | HONEY SYRUP | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | LEMON JUICE | |
| 4 oz · 120 ml | WATER |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 7 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Stirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +1.05 oz of water |
| Served | 7 + 1.05 = 8.05 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.8 ÷ 8.05 = 9.9 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM CINNAMON · the cinnamon spice
The aldehyde that makes cinnamon taste like cinnamon, roughly 90% of cinnamon bark oil by volume. Triggers TRPA1 (the "wasabi receptor") at high doses, which is why Red Hots burn and a cinnamon stick steeped too long in mulled wine turns acrid. Cassia cinnamon (the common grocery-store kind) carries more than the milder Ceylon variety.
ALSO IN Oaxaca Old Fashioned · Hot Buttered Rum · Tom and Jerry · Mulled Wine · Tommy Gun
FROM WHISKEY · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
Whiskey, honey, lemon and hot water. Eugenol from the clove-studded garnish joins vanillin from the oaked spirit. Heat evaporates some ethanol, so the pour's ABV reads lower than the math would suggest. It is served far below boiling (about 80°C) to keep the aromatics intact.
Originally a medicinal preparation: whisky cut with hot water and honey to lower the burn of crude 1700s spirit. The lemon came later; early toddies were spirit, sugar and hot water alone. The Toddy became domestic comfort drink across the British Isles and traveled with immigrants to North America. The name traces to the Hindi 'tāṛī' for palm-sap drink, picked up by British soldiers in India.
