It is cold outside and there’s nothing quite like a hot drink to warm the cockles. In the history of British mixed concoctions, there are arguably more hot drinks than cold for one easy reason: central heating was not ubiquitous within the UK until the late twentieth century. Before that, cold drinks were something of a novelty unless you frequented American bars, which specialised in iced drinks.
Here are five historical warming sips from Britain to see you thru the intense lights of the vacations and the dark days of winter.
1. Tom and Jerry
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Sportswriter Pierce Egan is credited with this precursor to the fashionable egg nog. It appeared in 1821 in his monthly serial Life in London, or The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq. and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tomwhich was adapted for the stage that very same yr.
The drink looked as if it would follow the play’s success because it traversed from London’s West End to New York’s Broadway in 1823. It was recognised as a Christmas classic in 1843 when it was revered in The Symbol, and Odd Fellow’s Magazine as a more refined version of “an extended concocted beverage”, the Flip. It may appear a bit fiddly to make, however the result’s definitely worth the extra effort.
Ingredients for batter mix (makes about 40 servings):
3 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
15 ml rum
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp creme of tartar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
120 ml caster sugar
Method: In one bowl, beat the egg whites to a stiff froth. In one other bowl beat the yolks until they’re as thin as water.
Mix yolks and whites and add the rum and spices. Thicken with sugar until the mixture attains the consistence of a lightweight batter.
Ingredients for one serving:
60ml of Irish whiskey
Milk of selection
Grated nutmeg
To make one serving: Combine one tablespoonful of Tom and Jerry batter with Irish whiskey in a coffee mug. Fill the mug with hot milk. Garnish with somewhat grated nutmeg.
2. Gin Twist
Among the most well-liked gin drinks during London’s severe winter of 1822, Gin Twist was immortalised in several poems published in London newspapers. One such poem comprised 149 lines with each stanza comparing the tipple with other popular drinks on the time, corresponding to this one about rum:
Ye Bailies of Glasgow! Wise men of the West!
Without your rum bowls, you’d look definitely tristes;
Yet I laugh once I’m told, that liquor so cold
Is pretty much as good as a foaming hot jug of gin-twist.
It is a remarkably easy drink made with gin, sugar, water and lemon juice, plus a lemon twist garnish to prove the concoction was made with fresh lemon juice – a real luxury back then. The Gin Twist still offers a superior drink today.
Ingredients:
50 ml gin
25 ml easy syrup (or a tablespoon of white sugar)
25 ml fresh lemon juice
75-100ml boiling water
Method: Combine ingredients in a teacup or Irish coffee mug. Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist.
3. Dog’s Nose
This may appear an odd combination to a contemporary palate more accustomed to sugary mixers corresponding to cola or tonic water, however the mix of porter or stout, gin, and brown sugar or dark treacle makes for a remarkably good winter sip. The Dog’s Nose first emerged in Charles Dickens’s 1836 book The Pickwick Papers.
Thereafter, the potion was ceaselessly mentioned in newspapers and magazines for nearly a century before its popularity waned. Served at Victorian-era room temperature or heated with a loggerhead (a red-hot poker heated in the fireside), this drink warms each the center and soul because the wintry snows decide on the bottom.
Ingredients:
25 ml gin
100 ml porter or stout
10 ml dark treacle
Method: Combine gin and treacle in a rocks glass or tumbler. Stir to dissolve the treacle. Add the porter and stir gently over again. Warm in a microwave if you ought to make the heated version.
4. Smoking Bishop
When Ebenezer Scrooge finally got here to his senses in Dickens’s 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, he said to Bob Cratchit with a smile:
We will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!
There is a little bit of mystery to this drink’s origins. While Dickens appears to have added the “smoking” to the name, the English literary critic George Saintsbury hypothesised in his 1920 Notes on a Cellar-Book that it was born at Oxford University.
Its earliest mention is within the 1827 edition of Oxford Nightcapsthe primary British book dedicated to drink recipes. That book calls it a standard drink and cites its origins in antiquity – and its wealthy, spicy tones and imported ingredients could have indeed made it a favorite among the many elite in late medieval England.
Ingredients:
6 Seville oranges
115 g caster sugar
1 bottle Portuguese red wine
1 bottle port
whole cloves
Method: Stud the oranges with cloves and roast them in a small metal bowl or baking tray until they’re golden brown. Deglaze the roasting pan with wine. Combine the remaining ingredients with the roasted oranges in a pot, and simmer covered on a low heat for about 20 minutes. Optionally, you can even press the oranges within the pot and sieve the liquid before serving.
5. Brandy Toddy
To heat drinks before microwaves, many landlords opted for a loggerhead which took a Toddy from a chilly drink to a boiling hot one in five seconds. Heated with a loggerhead, the toddy acquires a particular taste for the reason that heat from the loggerhead is so intense it caramelises the sugars within the drink and fills the room with the aroma of toasting marshmallows.
You can occasionally discover a loggerhead on Etsy or eBay mislabelled as a “fire poker”. The dramatic effect of heating a toddy with this antique device is a vacation visual treat, but they’re quite dangerous so I counsel caution. Here we recommend making this warming winter nightcap the fashionable way.
Ingredients:
1 tsp caster sugar
60 ml brandy or cognac
60 ml boiling water
Method: Pour brandy or cognac right into a coffee mug. Add sugar and water. Stir to dissolve.