3 Cocktails for When You’ve Got a Cold

Have you ever woken up in the morning thinking that you were going to have the best day ever, only to realize that your nose was blocked and you were running a temperature? If you answered yes, I get it. I’ve been there too! However, a simple paracetamol or anti-cold medicine might not cut it, and you need a drink that will give you a bit of a pick-me-up. 

When I think of being sick, I always want to make myself a delicious and easy cocktail to make myself feel better. The ingredients are easy to find, and if you like to have a drink regularly, you’ve probably already got the necessary liquors in your cabinet! 

Here’s a list of three cocktails guaranteed to help you fight a cold.

Toddy for a Sore Throat 

Toddy is one of the best beverages to drink because it helps you feel better and treat yourself at the same time. A cold often brings cough and sore throat with it, so this warm whiskey and lemon combination is the perfect cure. The list of ingredients below serves one person. 

Ingredients: 

• Three-quarters of a cup of hot water
• A quarter of a cup of whiskey
• One black tea bag
• 1-2 teaspoons of honey, adjusted for taste
• 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice, adjusted for taste. 

Method: 

• Boil water in a kettle. 
• Pour the water into a glass or mug with the teabag, then let it steep for a few minutes. 
• Once the tea is at an appropriate strength, set the mug aside. 
• Next, take a clean mug or glass, and coat the bottom of it with enough honey to suit your taste. 
• Add in the whiskey and lemon, taste it, and adjust the honey and lemon accordingly. 
• Finally, pour in the hot tea, stir well to combine, then drink it warm. 
• If you’re serving this cocktail at a dinner party, you could also serve it with a slice of fresh lemon. 

Bourbon with a Twist 

Every doctor will tell you that you need to start hydrated when you get a cold. There are often times when we tend to reach for a bottle of an energy drink packed with sugar when you could drink something with ingredients that taste better and make you feel better instead. Here’s how you do that. 

Ingredients: 

• 60mls of  warm Bourbon
• 15mls of honey or maple syrup
• As much ginger beer as you feel good about 
• 25mls of apple cider vinegar or apple juice

Method: 

• Add your bourbon, apple cider vinegar or apple juice, and sweetening agent. 
• Mix the three ingredients well. 
• Top this off with some ginger beer. 
• Voila! You have a quick and straightforward cocktail that’ll help soothe your sinuses with the gingery notes from the ginger beer and the spiciness from the bourbon. 

Sweet and Sour Gingery Goodness 

We all love a good cup of ginger tea, but let’s face it. There’s only so much tea you can drink when you’re fighting a cold before you start to crave something more robust that packs a bigger punch. This is where our sweet and sour ginger cocktail comes into play. This recipe calls for fresh ginger, combined with scotch, lemon juice, and honey, which are classic ingredients used in home remedies for colds. 

Ingredients: 

• 80mls of whatever Scotch you have on hand
• 25ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 25ml of honey, adjusted for taste
• A few slices of fresh ginger 

Method: 

• Using a mortar and pestle, gently crush the ginger, but take care not to turn it into a paste. Instead, gently pound it enough to muddle it. 
• Add the ginger to a glass. 
• Top the ginger with Scotch, lemon, and honey, adjusting for taste as you add the ingredients. 
• If you have a shaker at home, add all of the ingredients to the shaker and shake them. If you don’t have a shaker, don’t worry. All you have to do is simply stir your ingredients in the serving glass with a spoon and drink up. 

Conclusion

As far as minor illnesses go, a cold is one of the most inconvenient and unpleasant ones to go through. In this article, we took you through a list of three simple cocktails that contain ingredients that you probably have in your pantry and liquor cabinet already. These ingredients are also easily accessible in a nearby store, and these cocktails are all incredibly easy to make! We hope that you fix yourself one of these drinks and feel better the next time you have a cold.