It's quite different from the various cocktail making videos that are out there. This version isn't a cocktail to drink in winter, it's a powerful medicine and should be given only to those who are riddled with disease.
These versions clearly have no medical application, plus the guy on the left creeps me right out.
Well, like I said I tried to follow Ralfy's recipe but couldn't get all the ingredients. I found brown sugar without any problems, but mixed spice doesn't seem to be something the Norwegians are into. I found all spice (allehånde in Norwegian) and used that instead. I also couldn't find ginger syrup, or ginger in syrup or anything close, so I went with ground ginger and a good dollop of honey. Honey is naturally antiseptic which is why you often get it in cold medicines and throat remedies and things. I already had butter, so no problem there.
I'm like a pharmacist.
The pisture above is looking down into a protein shake shaking thingy I was given. In there is the two spoons of soft brown sugar, two little scoops of all spice, the same again of ground ginger, two teaspoons of honey and a knob of butter. After this I added a bit of boiling water and stired it to dissolve it all, then added one egg yoke and some whisky. I chose Laphroaig 10 yo for the whisky. I thought since it has a lot of medicinal flavours it probably has curative powers. I put in a large measure of whisky. Then I added another large measure of whisky and shook it up. Here's the finished result:
A medical marvel
I drank it down quick while it was still hot. It was very sweet, but also spicy and whisky-ish. I immediately felt a bit better too.
The taste
Bear in mind that I have a cold, so if you try this recipe without a cold it might taste a bit different.
For me it tasted a little too sweet, so next time I'll use a little less sugar and honey. I could taste the all spice and it was ok, but I think I'll pick up some mixed spice next time I'm in the UK. I could barely taste the ginger, so I'll be putting in about twice as much if I use the powdered kind again. Hopefully I'll find ginger in syrup before my next cold though. The whisky flavour was a bit lost among the spice and sugar. It was pretty nice, but I would use a blended whisky if I had one. It's not really worth using good whisky in a hot toddy, especially since the time to drink it is when your nose is so blocked you can barely taste anything.
Would I make it again? Yes, but a bit differently.
Was I cured? The remedy calls for the patient to drink the hot toddy and then go to sleep. I haven't been to sleep yet, but I'm off to bed now and I'll let you know if I'm cured when I wake up.....
No, I wasn't cured. It was a nice and comforting drink, it soothed my throat, eased my congested sinuses and I slept well after it, but I still have a cold. Maybe I would have been dead if I hadn't had it, but somehow I doubt it. I would make another one today, but I don't want to use good whisky on it, I don't have anything cheap in the house, and I don't think it's worth buying a bottle of cheap whisky just to make a hot toddy. If I have cheap whisky in next time I have a cold I will definitely have another.
Conclusion
An interesting drink with a surprisingly large number of variations. Ralfy's recipe is the only one I've seen that includes an egg yolk. On the standard one to ten scale I'd say it's a nice thing to have when you have a cold, but not the panacea I'd been led to believe. Also not worth buying whisky just to make it, best to use something cheap but decent that happens to be lying around.
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