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Ripple
Ripple
Photo: R. Lopez

Hot Spots for Hot Cocktails This Winter

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Ripple
| Photo: R. Lopez

Booze can warm you up on the inside, but if your drink is icy, you might still feel cold on the outside. When the weather gets really brutal or you want to chase away a winter cold, nothing works like a hot cocktail. Try these cocktails that incorporate wintry spices, tea, coffee, and all things warm and wonderful.
—Jamie Liu

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Ardeo + Bardeo

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Ardeo+Bardeo keep their hot cocktails simple. For the fan of mulled cider, try the Spice Cellar with rye, cider, honey syrup and lemon. Or go for their toddy, The Rivals, with Jameson's, Earl Grey, and simple syrup.

Art & Soul

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Along with a mulled wine, Art & Soul is serving up two hot cocktails. The Jagertee is a blend of the sweet and sour with rum, all spice dram, merlot, Pok Pok Som tamarind drinking vinegar, orange juice, and darjeeling tea. Or try the gingery Co-Op, a mix of rye, calvados, Snap, lemon, apple simple syrup and orange peel.

Bibiana Osteria & Enoteca

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Most people think of gin and other clear liquors as hot weather booze. But at Bibiana, gin is for all seasons with the hot & cold gin fizz. It combines a cool base of gin and lemon with a hot egg white and gin top. If you want something warm through and through, you can opt for mulled wine or hot chocolate with cognac and a house-made cardamom marshmallow.

BLT Steak

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Along with a fancy chipotle-spiced hot cocoa with coconut rum and VS cognac, BLT Steak features the perfect drink for those battling a cold, the Hot Koala. The chest-clearing hot toddy combines Old Overholt, eucalyptus, clove and ginger honey.

BRABO Restaurant by Robert Wiedmaier

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Most reserve mint for icy cold cocktails like the julep and the mojito. But it's also a perfect holiday flavor for a hot cocktail. BRABO sommelier Matthew Carroll is serving up a winter julep with Knob Creek bourbon, brown sugar, and peppermint tea.

Bourbon Steak Washington DC

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Bourbon Steak is serving up classic hot boozy drinks like hot buttered rum, hot chocolate, mulled wine and cider, but they're stirring things up a bit with a steamed spice daiquiri. It features spiced rum, spiced pineapple, citrus zest, and star anise for a slightly tropical hot drink.

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

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Cuba Libre is putting a Cuban spin on the Irish coffee with their Café Cuba Libre, a mix of Cuban coffee lightened with steamed coconut milk and a shot of spiced rum.

Drafting Table

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At Drafting Table, you can work up a sweat with the Fireball Hot Toddy with fireball whiskey, lemon juice, Earl Grey, cloves, and cinnamon. For something creamy, try the Tom, Choc & Jerry with bourbon, dark rum, vanilla soy milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and a meringue-like egg topping.

Firefly

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Bartender Jon Harris at Firefly is serving up Black Fleece Punch, a mashup of two classic hot punches, the British Lambswool Wassail and the Tom & Jerry. It layers a warm base of ale flavored by baked apples with a rich, sweetened meringue with yolks folded in. Even better, it's only $5 during happy hour.

Graffiato

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If you're a fan of pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, Graffiato has the toddy for you. The Hot Tottie features applejack, rye, pumpkin puree, lemon, honey angostura bitters and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Last Exit

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Winter spices are how Last Exit warms you up. Try the Negita Grog with rum, St. Remy XO, Combier, and chai. You can also enjoy the fruits of winter with the Currant Affair, featuring Diep 9 Genever Red Currant, Benedictine, citrus demerara.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

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Poste has a heated outdoor patio for better enjoying hot cocktails. For those who like it bitter, Poste has the Elysium with amaro, amaretto, Grand Marnier, coffee and chocolate bitters. If you prefer something smokier, there's the Where There's Smoke, There's Fire with mezcal, spiced rum, and agave-sweetened green tea.

Along with a boozy cider with dark rum, and Licor 43, Ripple is featuring a comforting, warm cocktail with steamed milk. A Sunny Chair features espresso-infused vodka, Grand Marnier, winter-spice bitters, steamed milk and nutmeg.

Room 11

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Classics like glögg (Swedish-style mulled wine) and Bourbon and Cider, accompany a rotating toddy menu at Room 11. They rotate through the Trust Toddy (byrrh, orange liqueur, cinnamon), Boots with the Fur (Becherovka, dark rum lemon zest), the Lil' Bird (tuaca, Hum, kaffir lime), and the Applesnap (applejack, Snap, apple bitters, lemon zest).

Tabard Inn

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At Tabard Inn, it's all about customization. Try mulled cider with spiced rum, or your spirit of choice. Or build your own toddy: spirit of choice, sweetener (honey, agave, maple), heat (hot water, chamomile or rooibos chai). Go Kubrickian with a Pho Full Metal Jacket (Old Overholt rye, sriracha spiced syrup, chartreuse, lime, and star anise) or Spanish with a Spanish toddy (Spanish brandy, East India Sherry, honey, lemon, orange peel and cinnamon).

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Ardeo + Bardeo

Ardeo+Bardeo keep their hot cocktails simple. For the fan of mulled cider, try the Spice Cellar with rye, cider, honey syrup and lemon. Or go for their toddy, The Rivals, with Jameson's, Earl Grey, and simple syrup.

Art & Soul

Along with a mulled wine, Art & Soul is serving up two hot cocktails. The Jagertee is a blend of the sweet and sour with rum, all spice dram, merlot, Pok Pok Som tamarind drinking vinegar, orange juice, and darjeeling tea. Or try the gingery Co-Op, a mix of rye, calvados, Snap, lemon, apple simple syrup and orange peel.

Bibiana Osteria & Enoteca

Most people think of gin and other clear liquors as hot weather booze. But at Bibiana, gin is for all seasons with the hot & cold gin fizz. It combines a cool base of gin and lemon with a hot egg white and gin top. If you want something warm through and through, you can opt for mulled wine or hot chocolate with cognac and a house-made cardamom marshmallow.

BLT Steak

Along with a fancy chipotle-spiced hot cocoa with coconut rum and VS cognac, BLT Steak features the perfect drink for those battling a cold, the Hot Koala. The chest-clearing hot toddy combines Old Overholt, eucalyptus, clove and ginger honey.

BRABO Restaurant by Robert Wiedmaier

Most reserve mint for icy cold cocktails like the julep and the mojito. But it's also a perfect holiday flavor for a hot cocktail. BRABO sommelier Matthew Carroll is serving up a winter julep with Knob Creek bourbon, brown sugar, and peppermint tea.

Bourbon Steak Washington DC

Bourbon Steak is serving up classic hot boozy drinks like hot buttered rum, hot chocolate, mulled wine and cider, but they're stirring things up a bit with a steamed spice daiquiri. It features spiced rum, spiced pineapple, citrus zest, and star anise for a slightly tropical hot drink.

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

Cuba Libre is putting a Cuban spin on the Irish coffee with their Café Cuba Libre, a mix of Cuban coffee lightened with steamed coconut milk and a shot of spiced rum.

Drafting Table

At Drafting Table, you can work up a sweat with the Fireball Hot Toddy with fireball whiskey, lemon juice, Earl Grey, cloves, and cinnamon. For something creamy, try the Tom, Choc & Jerry with bourbon, dark rum, vanilla soy milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and a meringue-like egg topping.

Firefly

Bartender Jon Harris at Firefly is serving up Black Fleece Punch, a mashup of two classic hot punches, the British Lambswool Wassail and the Tom & Jerry. It layers a warm base of ale flavored by baked apples with a rich, sweetened meringue with yolks folded in. Even better, it's only $5 during happy hour.

Graffiato

If you're a fan of pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, Graffiato has the toddy for you. The Hot Tottie features applejack, rye, pumpkin puree, lemon, honey angostura bitters and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Last Exit

Winter spices are how Last Exit warms you up. Try the Negita Grog with rum, St. Remy XO, Combier, and chai. You can also enjoy the fruits of winter with the Currant Affair, featuring Diep 9 Genever Red Currant, Benedictine, citrus demerara.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

Poste has a heated outdoor patio for better enjoying hot cocktails. For those who like it bitter, Poste has the Elysium with amaro, amaretto, Grand Marnier, coffee and chocolate bitters. If you prefer something smokier, there's the Where There's Smoke, There's Fire with mezcal, spiced rum, and agave-sweetened green tea.

Ripple

Along with a boozy cider with dark rum, and Licor 43, Ripple is featuring a comforting, warm cocktail with steamed milk. A Sunny Chair features espresso-infused vodka, Grand Marnier, winter-spice bitters, steamed milk and nutmeg.

Room 11

Classics like glögg (Swedish-style mulled wine) and Bourbon and Cider, accompany a rotating toddy menu at Room 11. They rotate through the Trust Toddy (byrrh, orange liqueur, cinnamon), Boots with the Fur (Becherovka, dark rum lemon zest), the Lil' Bird (tuaca, Hum, kaffir lime), and the Applesnap (applejack, Snap, apple bitters, lemon zest).

Tabard Inn

At Tabard Inn, it's all about customization. Try mulled cider with spiced rum, or your spirit of choice. Or build your own toddy: spirit of choice, sweetener (honey, agave, maple), heat (hot water, chamomile or rooibos chai). Go Kubrickian with a Pho Full Metal Jacket (Old Overholt rye, sriracha spiced syrup, chartreuse, lime, and star anise) or Spanish with a Spanish toddy (Spanish brandy, East India Sherry, honey, lemon, orange peel and cinnamon).

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