Nashville-based bartender, Mike Wolf, just released his cocktail book, Garden to Glass: Grow Your Drinks from the Ground Up. Wolf, formerly of Husk Nashville and now of Chopper tiki bar, shares how the beverage industry is now incorporating the natural world into drinks in the book.
Garden to Glass includes delicious recipes like the Beet Mezcal Sour, Day-Off Rita, Hot Sage-Buttered Rum, Smoked Maple-Sage Manhattan and (our favorite) the Forest Toddy. Wolf is letting us share that recipe, which is perfect for when you’re feeling under the weather or just want a twist on a traditional Hot Toddy, with our Nashville Noise readers.
Forest Toddy
1 herbal or black tea bag, or a small bouquet garni of your dried homegrown herbs
1 lemon, at room temperature
1/2 ounce honey syrup (2 parts honey to 1 part water)
1 1/2 ounces good rye whiskey, or to taste (I recommend Rittenhouse)
1 dash angostura or other aromatic bitters
Thyme, rosemary, and/or sage, for garnish
In a teapot, boil enough water for two drinks. Fill up your mug with the freshly boiled water and place the plate on top to seal in the heat. After a few minutes, with the mug piping hot, discard your tempering water and fill the mug a little more than halfway with more of the freshly boiled water. Add the tea or herbs and put the plate back on top of the mug to seal in the heat and get a nice infusion going. We’re going for a very mild tea/herbal flavor and don’t want any astringency getting in the way of our whiskey-warming enjoyment, so let your tea infuse for 2 to 3 minutes. In the meantime, cut some small lemon wedges, discarding the seeds.
Take the plate off the top of the mug and take out the teabag or bouquet garni. Squeeze 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice into the mug, then add the honey syrup. Add the whiskey to taste and a dash of angostura bitters. Warm a spoon under the faucet and stir well with the warm spoon. For the garnish, cut a slit in a wedge of lemon and place it on the rim of the mug, tucking your herbs into the lemon wedge to keep them neatly tucked to one side of your cup.
Like the sound of the Forest Toddy or Wolf’s unique book? Order it by clicking on the book cover above or by clicking here.
