Hot tequila and chocolate

Unsurprisingly, considering our often cold weather we are pretty good at making hot drinks. A hot whiskey or an Irish coffee are famous throughout the world, but what else is worth making after being exposed to our unforgiving climate?

Curiously, one great answer comes from Mexico. When it’s cold, the Mexicans turn to two great Mexican products: tequila and chocolate. Simply mix four parts hot chocolate with one part tequila in a long glass, mix with a small amount of chilli powder, and add whipped cream.

Another hot drink that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but does, is a hot buttered rum, pictured below. This is a little more complicated, because you have to make up some hot buttered rum batter, but once you have a jar of the batter sitting in the fridge (or freezer), you can mix up a hot buttered rum as easily and quickly as you would a hot whiskey.

To make the batter, in a bowl, mix 275g of brown sugar, 275g of white sugar, 275g of butter, a half-tablespoon of cinnamon, a half-teaspoon of ground cloves and a half-teaspoon of ground nutmeg. When these ingredients are thoroughly combined, add 500ml of ice-cream and whisk it into the mixture. Put the batter into a container and freeze it.

To make a cup of Hot Buttered Rum, add a tablespoon of the frozen batter to a generous measure of golden rum, and then add hot water. You can serve it with a half-stick of cinnamon, but it’s not really necessary. This sounds like a lot of work, but isn’t really, and once you have the batter, you can treat yourself without any trouble.

A final hot drink is glogg, which is the Danish answer to mulled wine. Take a bottle of red wine, and add some port and brandy, along with whole spices (rather than powdered) such as cardamom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon, and some raisins and blanched almonds. Simmer for half an hour without boiling. Add a bit of sugar if you must, and you have a perfect antidote to our chilly weather.