Q.
Happy Winter Solstice. Perhaps you, too, ventured out into the cold: a rainy walk by the ocean, a snowy hike up a wooded trail. The best way to cap off the day? A hot drink by a crackling fire.

What’s your go-to hot winter drink?

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A.
We can look first to some warming suggestions from Albert Hopkins 1919 ‘Home Made Beverages. The Manufacture of Non-Alcoholic and Alcoholic Drinks in the Household’.

Like any wise potion master, Hopkins offers three full pages of hot chocolate recipes. One option:

‘Take 1.5 lb. good sweet chocolate; grate fine; add 1 gal milk while stirring; then beat a few minutes with egg beater to make it light and serve with whipped cream. This should be made in a porcelain-lined urn of even temperature and stir occasionally.’

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We’ll skip quickly past Hopkins’ ten plus options for hot clam juice (with ginger? With ketchup?) We’re not sure what to make of the hot kola with alcohol, nor the hot juice of grape, orange or raspberry.

The coffee options sound far more tempting. How about some Burnt Coffee?

‘Allow 3 teaspoonfuls of good coffee to each ½ pt. of water. Sweeten it rather more than ordinarily (!), and strain it into small cups. Pour a little brandy into each over a spoon, set fire to it, and when the spirit is partly consumed, the flame should be blown out, and the coffee drunk immediately.’

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Meanwhile, 106 years later, we see a hot drink topping the most searched winter cocktails on Google over the last month…

Top Trending Winter Cocktails. Google US Trends. December 2025
i.    Irish Coffee
ii.   Cosmopolitan
iii.  Espresso Martini
iv.  White Russian
v.   Whiskey Sour

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Harris Poll surveyed 2,077 adults about their favourite winter hot drinks.  Their survey said…

Favourite Winter Holiday Hot Beverages. Harris Poll. 2024
i.   Hot Chocolate. 58%
ii.  Eggnog. 42%
iii. Cider. 26%
iv. Mulled Wine. 13%
v.  Hot Toddy. 13%

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Header Photo: Monika Borys