The Sweeter Spirit To Try In Your Next Hot Toddy

Hot toddies are the coziest cocktail you can possibly imagine — a perfect balance of bright citrus, sweet honey, and a warming spirit, served up toasty. A hot toddy is enough to chase the winter blues away and even make you excited for chillier nights during the summer. The most classic hot toddy recipe calls for whiskey, hot water, lemon juice, and honey, plus lemon and cinnamon and other spices like cloves or star anise as garnishes. But there are so many simple ways to elevate your hot toddy and play with different flavors — take the popular swap of apple cider in place of water, or even tea. One of the most game-changing hot toddy refreshes? Dark rum instead of whiskey, as recommended by Camille Wilson, author of "Free Spirit Cocktails: 40 Nonalcoholic Drink Recipes" and content creator of The Cocktail Snob.

"I'm Caribbean, so hot toddies with dark rum are my favorite!" Wilson says. "It works well in a hot toddy because many dark rums already have notes of cinnamon and other warm spices." While different types of rum all have sweetness that could work with the hot toddy, dark rum specifically boasts touches of baking spices, toffee, brown sugar, and perhaps vanilla and even honey thanks to the years it spends aging in charred oak barrels. It's sweet and warming, with both similar characteristics and complexity to the hot toddy's honey and lemon.

Subbing in dark rum for whiskey in a hot toddy is about as effortless as can be: Instead of 1 ½ ounces of whiskey, use 1 ½ ounces of dark rum. For even more complexity (inspired by the way tropical cocktails often call for both dark and light rums), split those 1 ½ ounces between dark rum and spiced rum, which will amplify all of those hot toddy-perfect notes of cinnamon, clove, allspice, anise, and nutmeg. You may even get hints of dark, dried fruit, giving your drink a sticky toffee pudding quality.

Using dark rum may inspire you to use hot apple cider instead of water in your recipe — the warm, sweet apple and the spices of the rum will be reminiscent of apple pie right out of the oven. If you go the tea route instead, more exciting flavor combinations await. Stick to lighter teas so that the drink's other elements don't get overshadowed; or better yet, split the cup of boiling water the recipe recommends between water and tea. Use ginger tea, cinnamon tea, rooibos for its nutty, honey, vanilla notes, orange spice tea for another source of citrusy sweetness, or even chai, which will really open up the spice bouquet. Don't forget to garnish accordingly: Swap lemon slices for orange slices or bourbon cherries, let star anise and cloves float on top, coat the rim of the mug in cinnamon sugar, or even sprinkle in edible flowers.