Get a mug....a big heavy one!!
Boil water in a teakettle.
Pour some hot water into the mug to heat it....dump the water out.
Add booze of your choice, in the amount you choose into the hot mug ( I like a dark rum or a blended whisky, 1 1/2 oz) add a teaspoon of sugar ( brown is good) or a teaspoon of honey, a good thick slice of lemon and a cinnamon stick....fill the mug to the top with boiling water....get the box of kleenex, huddle in an easy chair and sip slowly.
Refill as needed...
Linda C

Hi, Shaun - the way we do it -

make a cup of tea, add shot of whiskey (I actually use Irish Mist), cinnamon stick, lemon, honey, and cloves. I stud the lemon with the cloves. We call it a Hot Irish.

Drink and then wrap yourself in a big down blanket and go to bed for the night. It really works.

Feel better.

Perfect. I have all the ingredients. Thanks so much.

When I was a child and had a cold, my Dad always made me a Hot Toddy. His was made with Canadian whiskey, hot water, honey and lemon. He would have me drink it just before bed then he would tuck me in and cover me with a heavy quilt. He would leave my window open a crack to help me breath and in the morning my bed would be soaked with sweat but my cold would be much better. Of course today he'd be in trouble for giving a child alcohol.

Moose....your dad was a wise man....better a little good Canadian than robitussin with Dextromethoran ( what ever that is) or a cough syrup with coedine!
We know that a fever is for a purpose....and if you can create it with a hot toddy and a heavy blanket...so much the better.
Linda C

When we were kids my Mom always made up a hot toddy with Vernor's Ginger Ale and I don't know what else she put in it, maybe lemon? I don't know if there was any liquor or not, I will have to ask her.

But when we got older she made us her toddy the way Lindac explained.

Both ways seemed to do the trick in our house. We were always asleep in no time and felt much better in the morning.

Now I like to drink a hot toddy while soaking in a hot bath!

Michelle

Linda,
The older I get the more I revert back to my parents' remedies. Mon & Dad were of French and Native Canadian stock, grew up in the Depression, both served in the Army in WWII and believed in self reliance. Hence I learned to grow veggies, hunt, chop wood for heat, make do with little and treat many minor ailments. My children are a mix of the old and new. But when I offer a Hot Toddy made with their Pepere's recipe or a tidbit of wisdom from their Memere, they value the product or the wisdom. Of course they also love their Ipods, computers, cell phones and the other trappings of modern life!

What Linda said, only with Scotch in this house.

my mother used to make them as well. i remember if one of us was getting sick, we all sat around the table and had our "shot". whiskey, lemon, honey and i'm not sure what else. then yes, off to bed immediately.

i also remember paragoric, ipecac, merchorachrome, idodone and cod liver oil for other ailments....and all of them worked and we are all still here.

feel better shaun!
maryanne