Cold-Weather Cheer

[mr drinky]

Inspired by the cold-and-flu season, I was wondering what your go-to drinks are during the dark and cold months. Alcohol or without.

k.

[mc2442]

Same as the warm nights. Jack and diet. Although I do turn to wine more in the winter than summer. Of course I live in southern California, so "winter" is a little different than other parts of the nation that I have lived in.

[Lucretia]

Gotta have some hot chocolate once in a while on a frosty morning. I like to make mine with a good amount of a nice dark cocoa, cinnamon, & cayenne pepper. And don't forget a good splash of whipping cream. No marshmallows required.

[franzb69]

ginger tea whenever i'm under the weather. makes me feel better every time.

=D

[jmforge]

We don't have cold weather. Well, we have VERY short spells of slightly chilly weather, but not enough to have a different wardrobe or section in our liquor cabinet.

[jmforge]

Little dash of vanilla is nice too.

Gotta have some hot chocolate once in a while on a frosty morning. I like to make mine with a good amount of a nice dark cocoa, cinnamon, & cayenne pepper. And don't forget a good splash of whipping cream. No marshmallows required.

[Lucretia]

For when you're feeling poorly, honey, lemon juice, & bourbon, topped off with a little boiling water.

[Salty dog]

root beer float

[mhlee]

I drink a lot more hot tea - preferably green (Sencha) and black (Earl Grey) teas.

As for other drinks, I drink a lot less beer and more red wine during the winter. And, after my recent trip to Japan, I'm more open to hot sake. I really disliked the stuff that I've had previously but good sake that's meant to be served hot was a revelation. I'm sure the dried, grilled fugu fin also had something to do with it though.

[Zwiefel]

I JUST spent a few hours tweaking my hot chocolate recipe for a class I'm teaching tomorrow...here's my (for the moment) final recipe:

Hot Chocolate

4tbsp Butter
4tbsp Cocoa powder
4C Milk
8tbsp sugar
1tsp ground green cardamom

Procedure
1 Melt butter over medium heat, add cocoa, cardamom, and sugar. Stir until well-incorporated and fry for 1-2 minutes to extra fat-soluble compounds from cocoa and cardamom...careful to not scorch
2 Add milk, stir over heat until milk simmers
3 serve immediately...or after it cools a bit, depending on preference.

Not OMG by any stretch...but nice....comforting.