Name: Slow-Cooker Star Anise–Black Pepper Hot Toddy
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 2 hours
Ingredients: 5 whole star anise; 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns; 8 black tea bags; 3/4 cup honey, plus more to taste; 2 cinnamon sticks; 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste; 2 cups rye whiskey; Lemon zest twists or lemon wheels, for serving; 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and cheesecloth

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Photo by Andrew Purcell

A hot toddy is made many different ways all around the world, but at its simplest, it’s just hot water, lemon juice, honey, and booze—a cure for whatever ails you in the wintertime. This is a more festive, spiced version with a black tea base. English breakfast tea is especially good with the black pepper and star anise, but Earl Grey would be nice, too. Decaf versions of those teas are also totally fair game.

Recipe information

Total Time
2 hours

Ingredients

5 whole star anise

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

8 black tea bags

3/4 cup honey, plus more to taste

2 cinnamon sticks

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste

2 cups rye whiskey

Lemon zest twists or lemon wheels, for serving

Equipment

4- to 6-quart slow cooker and cheesecloth

Preparation

Step 1
Put the star anise and peppercorns on a piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle using kitchen twine or a thin strip of cheesecloth. (This makes it easier to serve without getting black peppercorns in your cup, but if you don’t have cheesecloth, don’t worry—just put the spices into the slow cooker.) Put the bundle into a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add 10 cups water, the tea bags, honey, and cinnamon sticks. Cover and cook until the mixture tastes like good tea, about 2 hours on HIGH.
Step 2
Reduce the heat to WARM. Pull out the tea bags, squeeze them over the pot to extract their liquid, and discard. Stir in the lemon juice and whiskey. Taste and add more honey or lemon juice if you feel it needs it. Serve from the slow cooker, still set on WARM, in mugs garnished with lemon zest twists or lemon wheels.
Step 3
Holds well on warm

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From Adventures in Slow Cooking: 120 Slow-Cooker Recipes for People Who Love Food © 2017 by Sarah DiGregorio. Reprinted with permission by William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.

TagsHot Drink Beverages Cocktail Alcohol Earl Grey Black Tea Tea Rye Whiskey Whiskey Cinnamon Herbs & Spices Lemon Citrus Fruit Slow Cooker Christmas Thanksgiving Winter Cookbooks Harper Collins

Recipe notes

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