In Search of the
Perfect Hot Toddy
by Sarah Bragaw and Peter Cassell
(Page 2)
So Sarah made the journey up to the top floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the
Bar and Restaurant which has a breathtaking view of all of NY City. Not just
to talk bartending secrets with the legendary Mr. DeGroff but because Dale also
makes Irish Coffee. He's a purist about it. The coffee is fresh and steaming,
the sweetener is a brown sugar syrup made in the Rainbow Room's kitchen, the
whipped cream is fresh, unsweetened and, beats it to order with a whisk in a small
bowl until it pours thickly but doesn't peak, because if its too stiff it will mix into
the coffee layer of the cocktail. The point of the cocktail is the layering of the sweet
coffee/liquor with the cream. Dale feels that a sweetened whipped cream spoils the contrast
of tastes and textures. He added that the cocktail originated in a waterfront
saloon in San Francisco.
But hot toddy's aren't just Irish Coffee's, as we learned. The most
impressive hot cocktail sampled during our informal survey is The Rainbow Room's Rainbow
Holiday Cup. Created by Master Barman Dale DeGroff, it's served hot or cold,
good for winter at 92 degree LA or minus 3 degree VT, and goes down much too
easily at either temperature. It's got spiced rum, Goldschlager, Angostura bitters,
OJ, and a touch of grenadine. The chilled version comes over ice in a bell
glass with a slice of orange.
The hot is steeped with cinnamon sticks and
cloves and is presented in a "London Dock" with a twist of orange peel. The
"London Dock" looks like a port glass - Dale explained that a glass of this
shape and size was used by the London merchants to sample the contents of
barrels arriving on the docks in the 1700's. The cocktail is made in the
authentic proportions that the earliest drinks recipes call for; 1 part
spirit, 1 part sweetener, and 1 part filler. Dale has an amazing collection of antique
barman's manuals and cocktail listings which fill his imagination and give
his cocktail menu a historical and cosmopolitan flair. At no other bar does the
minutiae of liquor lore pour forth. He's a hell of a nice guy and the
Rainbow Holiday Cup tastes great. Smooth, with a depth of flavors from the
spiced rum and the cinnamon of the Goldschlager mellowed by the fresh OJ
(strained into the shaker), sweet at the start from the grenadine (its made
from pomegranates) and finishing with the lingering orangy bitters and
cinnamon.
The experience of this cocktail in this space made by this bartender is yours for $8. Not all bartenders are interested in Hot Drinks. Some are, well, slightly discouraging upon hearing your call for an Irish Coffee. Writing this we wanted to go to an Irish bar for an Irish Coffee. We called McBell's on 6thAve. "Yeah...we have Irish coffee...I don't know how special it is. What is it? It's just coffee with Irish Mist and whipped cream. I don't drink it." McBell's was out.
FitzWilliams on William Street was a hit. The bartender, Pauline, from
Roscommon County, was charming. And she made a cocktail Dale DeGroff would
have been proud of. Delicious. 
The ingredients were not as posh as The Rainbow
Room's, but the price was $4.50. Pauline poured 1 packet of Domino sugar into a 3/4 full
glass mug of coffee and added a generous shot of Jameson's and topped it with the
fresh whipped cream they have on hand for coffee drinks ("the canned stuff
doesn't go"). Yes, she said, we have Irish Coffee at home, and "we call it
Irish Coffee too. But more so back home they do Hot Toddies." Pauline's
recipe is whiskey, hot water, lemon cloves. She added that Hot Brandy Port
is popular also, (the recipe turned out to be just what you'd expect), and that
her favorite hot drink is Tia Maria Coffee. FitzWilliams has two TVs (one really
big screen) and a mural of pastoral bliss. Come in a few times and Pauline will greet
you by name and know your drink.
We'll go back.
