There's nothing like brandy to cut bone-chilling cold. ATTENTION: It's not just for nightcaps anymore.
Brandy is the liquor of heroes, and extreme cold calls for extreme bravery.
Eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson — a man of strong opinions about proper drinking behavior — famously said:
"Claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy...There are, indeed, few who are able to drink brandy. That is a power rather to be wished for than attained."
-quoted in The Life of Johnson by Boswell
Via: explore-stpauls.net
If you're feeling under the weather, ginger brandy concoctions are the ultimate home remedy.
Brandy may not "cure" a flu or cold, but it can definitely help ease the pain while you wait for sickness to run its course. Just a whiff helps clear the sinuses, and a generous shot of Blackberry Brandy is said to give Robitussin a run for its money.
Since ginger root is a known antioxidant and immune booster, warm ginger brandy elixirs are the ultimate boozy cold-busters. Try this recipe for a Soothing Hot Ginger Toddy with Homemade Ginger Liqueur. For a simpler brew, mix ginger brandy with hot water, lemon, and a bit of honey.
Via: redpathsugar.com
When chilled to the bone, anything synonymous with "liquid fire" is a fantastic idea.
British Baptist minister Robert Hall insisted that the more "appropriate name" for a glass of brandy and water is "a glass of liquid fire and distilled damnation.”
-Gregory's Life of Hall, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Consult this guide for brandy-warming best practices and proper snifter etiquette.
Brandy is an iconic solution for freezing your butt off.
Thanks to the artistic imagination of English painter Edwin Landseer, legend holds that Augustine monks hung brandy barrels around the necks of St. Bernard rescue dogs to revive frostbitten pilgrims in the Swiss Alps.
The science behind brandy's longterm warming properties is sketchy at best, but at a healthy 35-80% alcohol content, a snifter of the stuff is sure to get those blood vessels dilated and bring a rosy flush to your cheeks.
Via: bethanfisher.wordpress.com
