With how it feels outside in Nashville right now, we’re all having a hard time thinking about anything other than a) curling up by the fireplace with a gang of throw blankets, and b) drinking something warm, possibly with whiskey in it.
Choice A will have to suffice until we clock out for the day, but meantime, the hot cocktail recipes below are dancing in our heads. All are well-suited to warm up cold bones during a wintery week in Nashville, and all come with a local connection — recipes supplied by Nashville pros, or made with Nashville ingredients.
Hot Tennessee Toddy
The king of hot cocktails. This recipe from Nashville Lifestyles is simple, and made with Tennessee’s best-known spirit, Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey.
Warm Spiced Ginger Glögg
Celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan, of Nashville’s Chauhan Ale & Masala House, shared a fittingly complex and alluring hot cocktail recipe with The Tennessean early last year: a spice-laden glögg made with red wine, port, brandy and a whole mess of wintery flavors (like cloves, ginger, cardamom and star anise). It’s for the more accomplished drink makers, and probably best to tackle when you have some time to spare. But we feel warmer just thinking about it. Read more about it here.
Hot Buttered ’Shine
Hot Buttered Rum is a winter-cocktail standard, but leave it to the Loveless Cafe to offer an alternative with extra Southern flair. Their Hot Buttered ’Shine recipe includes lots of butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla ice cream and the apple-flavored moonshine of your choice. One part cocktail, one part dessert, extra delicious. (Just swap the moonshine out for dark rum if you want to go classic.)
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
About this time last year, the folks at Brentwood Home Page were clearly feeling how we’re feeling, and offered up a few spiked hot chocolate ideas. This one’s our favorite, because it’s simple, stout and built on perfect cold-weather flavors: dark chocolate and deep red wine. Read more about it here.
Southern Limerick
Easily our team’s favorite hot cocktail in Nashville: the Southern Limerick at Pinewood Social downtown. It’s a more complex twist on Irish coffee, with rye, Amaro and demerara syrup, and a spicy personality that doesn’t overpower the coffee flavor. Best with homemade whipped cream. They shared the recipe with Men’s Journal if you’d like to try it at home, but you can always swing by 33 Peabody Street, grab a bite to eat, and have their expert mixologists make one for you.
Have any cold-weather/hot-cocktail favorites you love? Feedback on this topic is always appreciated.
Related, if you’re looking for a new home with a new cozy fireplace to curl up next to, we can help. Reach ACRE here, or for an easy way to get your Nashville househunting process started, fill out this form.