Friday Cocktails: Calvados Hot Toddy

Fall is my favorite time of year. The temperature is dropping, the multicolored leaves are crunching under my feet as I make my way towards the subway, and I generally start getting a bit of a cold. To be clear, getting a cold isn't that great—but treating it is, since my go-to remedy for the sniffles is a toddy: a hot, heady mixture of whiskey, honey, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves. I've stuck with that recipe for years, but a recent evening tasting through the extensive selection of calvados-based cocktails at The Barclay Bar and Grill introduced me to a modified toddy that makes getting an autumn cold even more fun to treat. Inspired by the flavor profile of calvados, a French apple brandy that generally carries notes of vanilla, stone fruits, and baking spices, bartender Jose Torrella simply combines the spirit with hot apple cider and tops it with a calvados-spiked whipped cream. The resulting hot cocktail tastes like autumn in a glass. It's a cinch to re-create at home, so any given night of the week you can find me curled up in front of the television, blanket wrapped around me, a warm calvados hot toddy in hand to cure whatever ails me.