3 Hot Ginger Drinks for When It's Gross Outside

We have no objection to drinking classic cocktails all winter long; a martini or Manhattan never goes out of season. And a stiff hot toddy can be the perfect nightcap on a snowy evening. But a little variety never hurt anyone, right?

This winter, we’ve been reaching for one ingredient again and again: fresh ginger. Sharp and spicy, it’s full of personality and translates especially well to warm cocktails.

We’ve been making a great non-alcoholic nightcap with ginger — just boiling water with a bunch of sliced-up fresh ginger and then stirring in honey. Maybe a little lemon. Adding cinnamon is delicious, too. (And makes your kitchen smell amazing.) And adding booze? Well, that’s just what we tend to do. Here are three hot ginger cocktails that’ll see you through the season.

Lightly Boozy: Ginger & Bourbon

Pretty Boozy: Cinnamon & Tequila

Booziest: Ginger-Rum Toddy

We’re not making a ginger tea of sorts here; rather, a toddy-style cocktail with plenty of ginger flavor. We’re first muddling ginger in a heat-safe glass, building a toddy atop it, and then garnishing with even more of the fresh root, making this cocktail as fragrant as it is satisfying.

Instructions: In the bottom of a heat-safe glass, muddle 5 grams of peeled ginger (about a quarter-sized piece, ¼” thick). Add two ounces of dark rum, half an ounce of raw sugar syrup (that’s Sugar in the Raw or similar, cut 1:1 with hot water and stirred until dissolved), a dash of Angostura bitters, and two ounces of water just off the boil. Stir briefly and garnish with slices of ginger—the bigger the better.