Drink of the Week: Hot toddy

Where: Room 11, Tryst

If there was a perfect drink to warm you up after a day of tromping through a blizzard, sledding in Meridian Hill Park, or taking a few snowballs to the face in Dupont Circle, it would be the hot toddy. Sure, hot cocoa is nice, but we know that with all that time off work, most of you have been giving your livers a workout instead. With that in mind, it is only appropriate that the drink of the week be both hot and alcoholic.

The toddy's history is hazy, though the Irish generally lay claim to inventing the drink as a nightcap to ward off colds and chills. Like any traditional beverage, there is a fair bit of debate surrounding the exact recipe, but generally a hot toddy is a shot of whiskey mixed with honey, hot water or tea, and a clove-studded slice of lemon.

Whether a hot toddy will ward off sickness is debatable -- there is some vitamin C in the lemon, but alcohol also causes dehydration. Potential health benefits aside, the combination of whiskey and tea packs a warming punch that is far more satisfying than drinking PBR in a snow storm.

Small Bites

Love ain't cheap
Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is this Sunday. Like flowers, the cost of dining out is usually much higher than any other day of the year, but that rarely stops anybody. If you don't have dinner reservations yet, you'd better act quick. Many restaurants are offering special tasting menus and drinks just for the occasion. Check out Zagat and Washingtonian for recommendations and a countdown of available tables.

Eye of the tiger
Thanks to the lunar calendar, Chinese New Year also happens to fall on Feb. 14 this year. In order to ensure good luck in the Year of the Tiger, order up some traditional symbolic dishes -- dumplings for wealth, noodles for long life, and fish for prosperity. You can get your dumpling fix at the recently-opened Ping Pong Dim Sum or head out to Bob's Noodle 66, Joe's Noodle House in Rockville, or North China in Bethesda for more authentic fare.

International Wine and Food Festival
Sample food and drink from around the world at this weekend's International Wine and Food Festival. Many of the events are already sold out, but you can still snag tickets to tonight's after hours reception ($40) or tomorrow's street-fare pavilion ($30). There will also be a series of cooking demonstrations by the likes of Jose Andres, Barton Seaver, and Todd Gray.

Chocolate: food of the gods
The Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian will be hosting "The Power of Chocolate" this weekend. The festival will include traditional Peruvian dance performances, lectures on the history, science, and culture of chocolate, food demonstrations, and hands-on activities for the kids.

Where are my beads?
Celebrate Mardi Gras at Central on Tuesday. The restaurant will be offering a special New Orleans-themed menu as well as live music. Enjoy some hot jazz by the Laissez-Foure quartet while sipping a Hurricane and munching on jambalaya and oysters rockefeller. No cover, but reservations are recommended.

Filed in Food and Drink and tagged hot toddy, international wine and food festival, lunar new year, mardi gras, weekly feed

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