Omnivore - Best Bets: Where to find hot toddies in Atlanta

A toast to the toasty nightcap

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  • Courtesy H. Harper Station
  • H. Harper Station’s Ellijay Toddy



Cocktails with ice are so last season. Winter is coming. (Unless you’re a weather forecaster. In that case, winter’s already here.)

The hot toddy is having a moment in Atlanta right now as bars with sophisticated drink programs continue to embrace the cold remedy of yore — some even personalizing the hot drinks with their own holiday touches. So when the sun goes down early and you can’t shake the chill in your bones, turn cocktail hour into hot toddy time at these five eat- and drinkeries.

It doesn’t take the investigation skills of film noir’s Sam Spade to sleuth out King & Duke’s Maltese Falcon cocktail. The aroma of this simply spiced toddy beckons with notes of almond, chocolate, lemon, orange, and vanilla. What’s in the glass? Beverage Manager Ronnie Le Clair combines clover honey, lemon, orgeat, brown cacao, Averna, and spiced rum before covering the concoction with hot water. The result is a drink as mesmerizing as its namesake. $10. 3060 Peachtree Road N.W. 404-477-3500. www.kinganddukeatl.com.

The woodsy spices in H. Harper Station’s Elliay Toddy tastes like the holidays. When its available, this mélange of apple brandy, house-made North Georgia apple syrup, ginger tea, All-Spice Dram, and citrus, garnished with a cinnamon stick, warms the insides as it lifts the spirits. $7. 904 Memorial Dr. S.E. 678-732-0415. www.hharperstation.com.

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Krog Street Market’s Craft Izakaya has a sake-based toddy comes in an adorable little kettle. The Snow Country For Old Men — a batched cocktail that serves two — combines sake, plum wine, and green tea. It emanates a fragrant aroma, especially when the hot drink is poured over star anise. Banish the cold with this warm mug of sake goodness. $24. 99 Krog St. N.E. Suite X. 470-355-9556. www.craftizakaya.com.

Lusca’s beverage director Stuart White has a drink on the menu called Home For The Holidays. White presses Ellijay apples into cider and then mulls it with lemon peel, allspice berries, cloves, cinnamon, and star anise. After it’s strained, heated, splashed with Vermont maple syrup, and an allspice compound butter, the mixture is served over a shot of 12 year Eldorado rum and garnished with star anise. This one warms the soul and lubricates the mustache! $9. 1829 Peachtree Road N.E. 678-705-1486. www.luscaatl.com.

Nestled beneath the Georgian Terrace hotel, Proof & Provision is a cozy space to escape the cold. Head bartender Nate Shuman loves making his Hot Toddy because “with a heated drink, the character of the ingredients comes out ... all the aromatic qualities especially,” he says. Shuman layers a blend of sweet orange and English Breakfast teas with Riverboat Rye, ginger liqueur, fresh lemon, demerara sugar, and Angostura and orange bitters. Garnished with an orange twist, it smells like wonderful baking spices - without all the tedious baking. $10. 659 Peachtree St. N.E. 404-897-5045. www.proofandprovision.com.

Note: This post has been updated to include price information.