NA Hot Toddy

A warming zero-proof Hot Toddy with NA whiskey, honey, lemon, and spices — all the cozy comfort of the winter classic without the alcohol.

The Hot Toddy's history stretches across several national traditions, each claiming a version of the warming night-cap formula. Scottish distillers and physicians both contributed to its profile: Doctor Robert Bentley Todd, a 19th-century Irish-born physician practicing in London, advocated warm brandy with cinnamon and sugar as a therapeutic remedy and is sometimes credited with popularizing the medicinal warm spirit drink, though similar preparations predate him by centuries in Scottish and Irish practice. The word toddy itself appears to derive from the Hindi tādī, referring to the fermented sap of the palmyra palm — a connection made when British colonial officers encountered the Indian drink and applied the name to their own warm spirit mixtures on the return voyage. The formula of whisky, honey, lemon, and hot water became the definitive Scottish version, with Scotch whisky providing the base that most English-language references cite as traditional. Non-alcoholic versions of the Hot Toddy became increasingly viable as NA spirit brands developed the oak-aged, grain-forward profiles required to carry the drink's signature warmth. Ritual Zero Proof, Monday Whiskey, and Spiritless Kentucky 74 — all launched between 2019 and 2021 — were among the first American NA spirits with enough body and complexity to serve in a Hot Toddy without the result tasting like spiced tea with a label. The non-alcoholic Hot Toddy became a cold-weather staple on zero-proof menus as these brands gained distribution through the early 2020s.