We love a hot toddy in the winter. It’s spicy, warming, and soothing on our weather-beaten throats. A traditional hot toddy uses whiskey or bourbon instead of tea. We’ve replaced the booze in this recipe with our favorite black tea, but we won’t judge if you throw a splash in your mug.

Gather Your Ingredients

Makes 2 cups of yum.

• 2 cups of water

• 2-4 tablespoons honey (depending on your sweetness preference)

• 4 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 4 whole cloves

• 1 tsp grated ginger

• 2 tbsp of loose black tea

• Tea sock for steeping

Make Your Toddy

• Heat the water to near boiling in a small saucepan. You could use a kettle and steep ingredients separately in your mugs, but the saucepan way is a little simpler.

• While the water is heating, add cinnamon sticks, loose tea, cloves, and ginger to your tea sock.

• When water starts to bubble, remove it from the heat and stir in honey to dissolve, then add the lemon juice and ground cinnamon, continuing to stir until everything is incorporated.

• Add the tea sock and steep for 3-5 minutes.

• Remove the tea bag after steeping and pour the mixture into your mugs

Sip and smile!