THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

Buttered Toddy

Is strong rum and water, sweetened with honey, enriched with a good lump of fresh butter, and flavoured with nutmeg and lemon juice.  It is much in favour with naval gentlemen.

~A Lady. The New London Cookery, and Complete Domestic Guide (“nightcaps”). London: G. Virtue, 1827.

Buttered toddy – a tablespoonful each of honey and lemon juice well mixed together, a grate of nutmeg, a wineglassful of rum, quarter of an ounce of fresh butter.  Dilute with boiling water.

~Copley, Esther. The Housekeeper’s Guide; or A Plain and Practical System of Domestic Cookery. London: Jackson and Walford, 1834.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 Tb. honey
• 1 Tb. lemon juice
• a grating of nutmeg
• ¼ c. rum
• ¼ oz. butter (approx. 1/2 Tb.)
• ¾ c. boiling water.

Squeeze and measure the lemon juice (removing any pits), and combine it with the honey in a drinking vessel.

Add a fresh grating of nutmeg, and also the rum and butter, and mix together.

Pour the boiling water over these ingredients, and stir well, until the butter is melted and the mixture thoroughly blended.

Drink immediately.  Sip cautiously – this is heartwarming but potent!

A note from Patricia: Everywhere I go, people are coughing and sneezing (ugh!), and so I thought this Buttered Toddy recipe would be appropriate and healing. Why drink it? The honey and the lemon will loosen the mucous, the steaming hot water will ease congestion, and the copious amounts of rum in this will help you get some much needed rest and relaxation (or knock you right out!). This was my first time drinking a ‘toddy’ and I can see why this has been a home-remedy for colds and flus for hundreds of years. It was tart and sweet and soothing, and was a lovely nightcap on a winter’s evening.

Honey as food is very healthy. It is admitted that those who use honey freely at meal time, find in it health and long life.

~Langstoth on The Hive and Honey Bee. Revised, Enlarged, and Completed by Chas. Dadant and Son. Hamilton, Hancock County, Illinois: Chas. Dadant & Son, 1889.