10 warming cocktails for autumn: from Hot Toddy to mulled wine
Material 18+. Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health.
Updated
Behind the bar, you quickly realize when summer is over: guests stop asking for 'something with ice and mint' and start asking 'is there anything hot?'. This usually happens on the first truly rainy evening in October. And here’s the funny thing: hot cocktails are the most underrated part of the bar menu. Hardly anyone orders them in summer, but in autumn they save both revenue and mood at the same time.
At the same time, making them at home is easier than most 'cold classics'. You don’t need a shaker, you don’t need crushed ice, you don’t need a steady hand for double straining. You need a pot, a mug, spices from the kitchen cupboard — and an understanding of a couple of simple rules, the most important of which is: do not boil the alcohol. Everything else is just details, which I’ll explain along the way.
I’ve gathered ten recipes from the catalog 24cocktails.com — from strict classics like the Hot Toddy and Irish Coffee to layered dessert shots that warm you not with temperature, but with their creamy liqueur character. All the ingredients and steps are just as they are in the catalog cards, no embellishments. Let’s go.
1. Hot Toddy
If I had to pick one drink for the entire fall from this selection — it’s this one. Whiskey, honey, lemon, cloves, and boiling water: a formula that Scotland has considered a home remedy for dreary weather for centuries. The catalog describes it succinctly and honestly: a warming cocktail based on whiskey with honey and lemon, perfect for winter evenings. Note that the recipe is for two glasses right off the bat: Toddy is rarely enjoyed alone.
Ingredients
- Whiskey — 50 ml
- Honey — 15 ml
- Cinnamon — 1 stick
- Lemon — 1 pc. (juice plus slices for serving)
- Cloves — 2 pcs.
How to make
- Whisk together the whiskey and honey and divide between two heat-resistant glasses.
- Add half a cinnamon stick to each glass, then pour in 200 ml of boiling water.
- Add a bit of lemon juice, taste, and add more to your liking.
- Finish with a slice of lemon studded with cloves and serve immediately.
Tip: Mix the honey into the whiskey before you add the boiling water — it will dissolve instantly in hot water, but will just sit there in a lump at the bottom of a cold glass. And add the lemon at the very end, gradually: over-acidifying the Toddy is the most common mistake.
2. Irish Coffee
The most photogenic hot cocktail in the world: black coffee, a layer of cold cream on top, and whiskey that ties it all together. You’re supposed to drink it through the cream, without stirring — the hot and cold meet right in your mouth. It’s the perfect ‘coffee after dinner’ and the best way to end a chilly day without moving on to something stronger.
Ingredients
- Irish whiskey — 1 1/2 ounces
- Coffee — 240 ml
- Sugar — 1 tsp
- Whipped cream (fresh) — 1 tbsp
How to make
- Heat the coffee, whiskey, and sugar in a saucepan, but don’t let it boil.
- Pour the mixture into an Irish coffee glass.
- Add the whipped cream on top.
- Serve hot.
Tip: the sugar here isn’t for sweetness, but for physics — it makes the coffee denser, and the cream floats on the surface instead of sinking. Don’t skip it, even if you usually drink your coffee unsweetened. Whip the cream just enough to reach a ‘thick but pourable’ state: a dense cap from the canister is already dessert, not a cocktail.
3. Hot Buttered Rum
Sounds strange until you try it: dark rum, butter, brown sugar, and spices, all poured over hot water. The butter melts and turns the drink into a velvety, almost soup-like grog — an old colonial classic still enjoyed in winter all across New England. This is the coziest entry on the list: pure blanket vibes.
Ingredients
- Dark rum — 45 ml
- Hot water — 90 ml
- Butter — 15 ml
- Brown sugar — 10 ml
- Ground cinnamon — a pinch
- Grated nutmeg — a pinch
How to make it
- Place the butter and spices at the bottom of a mug or Irish coffee glass.
- Mash them up, pour in the rum, and add the hot water.
Tip: Use softened butter and mash it with sugar and spices into a uniform paste before you start pouring anything — that way it emulsifies into the drink instead of floating on top like a greasy film. And drink it while it's hot: cold buttered rum is a sad sight.
4. Auntie's Hot Xmas Punch
A warm Christmas drink with a hint of cinnamon, as the catalog honestly states — and with an unexpectedly serious lineup: sweet Pedro Ximénez sherry, cognac, apple and lemon juice, Creole bitters. Essentially, this is a personal hot punch for one glass that doesn’t require a pot and half an hour at the stove. Perfect when you want mulled wine but don’t want to make it for a crowd.
Ingredients
- Pedro Ximénez sherry — 45 ml
- Rémy Martin 1738 cognac — 67.5 ml
- Lemon juice — 22.5 ml
- Apple juice — 90 ml
- Peychaud's bitters (or other Creole bitters) — 4 dashes
How to prepare
- Pour all the ingredients into a glass and stir.
- Heat in the microwave for 40 seconds (time may vary depending on your microwave), stir again, and serve.
Tip: heat in short intervals and taste — the goal is to make the drink hot, but not scalding, otherwise the aroma of the sherry and cognac will just evaporate with the steam. 40 seconds is a guideline, not a rule.
5. Eggnog
Unexpected twist: this drink is served over ice — and still, it’s one of the most 'wintry' drinks in the world. A classic cocktail with egg and cognac: a whole egg, cream, milk, and simple syrup are whipped into a silky, creamy drink that feels more like dessert than a cocktail. Nutmeg on top is a must — without it, it’s just adult eggnog, but with it, it’s Christmas classic.
Ingredients
- Cognac Rémy Martin 1738 — 75 ml
- Simple syrup (2:1) — 15 ml
- Egg — 1 pc., fresh
- Cream — 15 ml
- Milk — 60 ml
How to prepare
- Shake all the ingredients with ice.
- Strain into a glass filled with ice.
- Garnish with grated nutmeg.
Tip: the egg should be impeccably fresh — this is not an ingredient to skimp on. And shake the shaker longer and more aggressively than usual: the egg needs time to fully emulsify, otherwise the texture will be watery instead of creamy.
6. B-52 Shot
Next up is a block of dessert shots that warm you not with the degree of alcohol, but with their creamy liqueur character. And it opens with the planet's main layered shot: coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and orange Grand Marnier, stacked in three distinct layers. Each layer is sipped for its own flavor — coffee, cream, orange — and that's the whole point.
Ingredients
- Coffee liqueur — 15 ml
- Irish cream liqueur — 15 ml
- Grand Marnier (or another orange liqueur based on cognac) — 15 ml
How to make
- Chill the ingredients.
- Pour the ingredients in layers into a chilled shot glass in the specified order.
Tip: The layers hold together due to the difference in density, so you can't mess with the order: coffee liqueur is the heaviest, so it goes first. For the second and third layers, pour slowly over the back of a bar spoon pressed against the side of the glass — that way the boundary will be as straight as a ruler.
7. After Six (After Six Shot)
A close relative of the B-52, but instead of orange — mint: it turns into a liquid version of those after-dinner mints, the very same chocolate mints. Coffee liqueur, white mint crème de menthe, and Irish cream — cold, fresh, and creamy all at once. A great note to end an autumn dinner, when there's no room for dessert, but you still want to wrap up the evening with something sweet.
Ingredients
- Coffee liqueur — 15 ml
- White mint crème de menthe (for example, Giffard Menthe-Pastille) — 15 ml
- Irish cream liqueur — 15 ml
How to make
- Chill the ingredients.
- Carefully pour them into a shot glass in the specified order.
Tip: keep all three bottles in the fridge beforehand — cold liqueurs are denser and thicker, making the layers settle noticeably easier. Warm Irish cream will almost certainly sink into the mint layer.
8. Shot 'Apple Pie' (Apple Pie Shot)
The most autumnal shot you can imagine: apple schnapps and hazelnut liqueur, shaken with ice, topped with a thin layer of cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It smells exactly like it should — fresh-baked goods. Unlike its neighbors on the list, it’s not layered but mixed, so it goes down smoother: first the cream, then the apple with the nut.
Ingredients
- Apple schnapps — 30 ml
- Hazelnut liqueur — 15 ml
- Cream — 7.5 ml
How to make
- Mix the first two ingredients with ice.
- Strain into a chilled shot glass.
- Carefully pour the cream over the drink using a spoon.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Tip: There’s not much cream here — 7.5 ml — and that’s intentional: you need a thin ‘cap’ layer, not a creamy cocktail. Pour it in by the spoonful, literally drop by drop, and sprinkle the cinnamon on the cream so it doesn’t sink.
9. Avalanche Shot
Another three-layer dessert in a shot: coffee liqueur at the bottom, white crème de cacao in the middle, and a southern-style liqueur — something like Southern Comfort — on top. The taste is coffee, cocoa, and a spicy-fruity finish, a dessert in three sips. The name is honest: the light layers really hover over the dark coffee base, like snow over a slope.
Ingredients
- Coffee liqueur — 15 ml
- White crème de cacao (for example, Dutch Cacao) — 15 ml
- Southern-style liqueur, 40% (for example, Southern Comfort) — 15 ml
How to prepare
- Chill the ingredients.
- Chill the shot glass.
- Pour the coffee liqueur into the glass.
- Carefully layer the white crème de cacao on top.
- Finish it off by adding the southern-style liqueur on top.
Tip: here they chill not just the bottles, but the glass itself — and it’s not just for show. In a warm glass, the bottom layer heats up, becomes runny, and the second layer sinks into it. Ten minutes in the freezer solves the problem.
10. Mulled Wine
The ending is obvious, but you can’t skip it. Hot red wine with spices and citrus is the drink for which fairs, ice rinks, and cold strolls exist. The trick to this recipe is that the spices are first simmered in sugar syrup separately, and only then does the wine go into the pot: this way, the clove and cinnamon have time to release their aroma, and the wine doesn’t lose its own.
Ingredients
- Water — 3 cups
- Sugar — 1 cup
- Cloves — 12 pcs.
- Cinnamon — 2 sticks
- Lemon zest — from 1 lemon
- Red wine — 750 ml
- Brandy — 1/4 cup (about 60 ml)
How to prepare
- In a stainless steel pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil with sugar, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and lemon zest.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add 750 ml of red wine and heat to 'coffee temperature' (do not boil!).
- Add 1/4 cup of brandy and stir.
- Pour into glasses and garnish with a slice of lemon or a cinnamon stick.
Tip: The "coffee temperature" is the key to the whole recipe. Boiling mulled wine loses both alcohol and the aroma of the wine at once, leaving you with a hot compote. A simple guideline: steam is rising from the pot, but there are no bubbles on the surface. And don’t buy expensive wine — the spices will cover up the subtleties anyway; just a decent dry red will do.
Ten recipes are just the beginning of the conversation about autumn drinks. Each cocktail in the catalog has a card with a photo, exact proportions, strength, and preparation time, so you can dig deeper on your own — from classics to things you might not have even heard of.
All cocktails in this category →
Mark the bottles on your shelf — the site will show you what you can mix right now →