Latest / The Monégasque Table / Edible Glitter in a Hot Toddy: Stir the Honey First
Transcript
- Dana: 2 minutes. The hot toddy recipe I found says boil the water, then wait 2 minutes before you make the drink. And my first thought was, is that so the glitter doesn't melt? Margaux: Welcome to The Monégasque Table. Today's question comes from every host who just switched from cold drinks to warm ones: can you put edible glitter in a hot toddy? Dana: And if you can, when does it go in? Because a hot drink feels like a whole different animal. Margaux: Here's the answer up front. Yes, a hot toddy takes glitter, and it goes in last. The recipe I read is about as simple as a cocktail gets: 3/4 cup hot water, 1 1/2 ounces whiskey, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoons honey, stirred together in a mug until the honey dissolves. You taste it, you adjust it, and only then does the pinch of glitter go in, with one last stir. Use a clear glass mug so anyone can see it. And the 2 minutes is not for the glitter. That's the recipe cooling the boiling water before the whiskey and honey go in. Dana: So the glitter doesn't care that it's hot. Margaux: The glitter doesn't care that it's hot. That's the Sparkle Lab part, and it's worth a minute. Dana: Sparkle Lab, then. I put sugar in hot water, it disappears. I put honey in hot water, it disappears. Why doesn't the glitter disappear? Margaux: Because sugar and honey dissolve, and the shimmer pigment doesn't. The safety data sheet for this kind of pigment describes it as almost insoluble in water and chemically stable. It's mineral pigment on a mica base. Hot water doesn't melt it, doesn't dissolve it and doesn't change its color. It just sits in the drink and catches the light. The same sheet lists it as odorless, which is why a pinch doesn't change the taste of the toddy. Dana: Then why does it matter that it goes in last? Margaux: Because of the honey. Honey sinks to the bottom of a mug before you stir it. If the glitter goes in first, it goes down with the honey, and you're stirring through a thick layer at the bottom to get it moving. Stir the honey in first, so the drink is one smooth liquid, then add the pinch and give it one last turn. Now it moves through the whole mug. Dana: And do I want the fine dust or the bigger flakes? Because I feel like a warm drink wants that silky swirl. Margaux: Here's where we disagree. I'd use flake. Glitter flake is 50 to 500 microns, the format built to stay visible and suspended in a drink. Luster dust is 5 to 25 microns and gives a smooth sheen. A toddy is pale gold, and gold flake in a pale gold drink reads like sparks in a fireplace. Dana: And I'd use dust. Because nobody drinks a hot toddy in a hurry. You hold it, you sip it, you hold it. A silky swirl every time you tip the mug is the whole cozy thing. Margaux: Then make one of each and look at them side by side. That's the honest test. Clear mug, same drink, same pinch. Dana: How much is a pinch? Because a pinch from me is never small. Margaux: The printed serving on a drink-glitter jar is 0.1 grams, and the listing says you can double it for a richer color. A toddy is a big drink. It's 3/4 cup of water before the whiskey. So start at 0.1 grams, and if it looks thin in that much liquid, go to the doubled serving. Put 0.1 grams on a kitchen scale once so your eye knows what it looks like. Dana: And clear glass really matters. Margaux: Clear glass is half the effect. An analysis of about 2,400 category reviews has buyers saying glitter works best with clear drinks. A hot toddy is a clear, pale drink, which is lucky. But most people serve it in a ceramic mug. Glitter in a ceramic mug is a secret only the person drinking it ever learns. Dana: One more question. Is a hot drink even a glitter drink? Like, officially? Margaux: Fair question, and I'll answer it the way the rules are written. The listing for this pigment in the federal color-additive rules, 21 CFR 73.350, has a beverage entry. It names cocktails. A hot toddy is whiskey, lemon, honey and hot water, which is a cocktail served warm. The same entry carves out beverages that are typically consumed without added alcohol, and that's why this show is talking about the toddy, not about a mug of plain tea or coffee or cocoa. Dana: So the whiskey is what makes it a toddy and not a tea. Margaux: The whiskey is what makes it a toddy. And the recipe page has a version without the whiskey. We're not building that one. Dana: My round. You stir once at the end and you're done, fine. But a toddy sits. I'm on the couch with this thing for 20 minutes. Whatever glitter you stirred in at the start, some of it is going to drift down while I'm watching the fire. Margaux: Flake is built to stay suspended, but a drink that sits still for a long time gets less swirl than one that's moving. So what's your fix? Dana: The cinnamon stick. The recipe already puts one in the mug as a garnish. That's a stirrer. Hand your guest the mug with the cinnamon stick in it and tell them to give it a turn. Every time they stir, the swirl comes back. It's the same trick as the swizzle stick in a cold drink. Margaux: That's the round you win, and it's better than anything I had. The garnish becomes the tool. Nobody has to ask for a spoon, and every stir is a little reveal. The other garnish the recipe allows is 3 whole cloves, which look lovely and stir nothing. So for a glitter toddy, the cinnamon stick wins. Dana: Write that down. Cinnamon stick wins. Margaux: Written down. Dana: What about making a batch for a few people? Can I mix it ahead in a pot? Margaux: The recipe is 1 serving, made in the mug, and it takes 5 minutes. That's the strength of it. For 4 people, I'd line up 4 clear mugs, heat the water once, and build each one. Honey, lemon, whiskey, stir, taste, then the pinch. You keep control of each drink, and each guest gets the swirl fresh, instead of whatever settled in the bottom of a pot. Dana: Who should skip it? Margaux: 3 skips. If your mugs are all ceramic and you don't want to buy glass ones, skip the glitter. The drink is the same and nobody will see it. If the warm drink you're serving is a tea, a coffee or a cocoa with no spirit in it, skip the glitter there too. That's outside the beverage entry we just talked about, so plan the shimmer for the cocktail. And if you're a strict purist who thinks a toddy is whiskey, honey, lemon and nothing else, then honestly, keep it that way. A purist's toddy doesn't need sparks. Dana: Dana's Scorecard. I came in thinking the 2 minutes was there to protect the glitter. Where I landed. One: the 2 minutes is for the water. The glitter doesn't dissolve and doesn't mind the heat. Two: honey first, stir until it's gone, then the pinch, then one last stir. Three: clear glass mug or don't bother. Four: start at 0.1 grams and double it if the mug looks thin. Five, my round: the cinnamon stick is the stirrer, so the swirl keeps coming back. My caveat: I still think dust beats flake for a drink you hold this long, and we never settled that. Margaux: We didn't, and the side-by-side will settle it in your own kitchen. The footnote: the MONÉGASQUE Iconic Gold 10 gram drink glitter is on Amazon at $14.99, about 100 servings at the printed 0.1 grams, which is a lot of cold nights. Dana: Next time, the party version of glitter in alcohol. Jello shots. And how many a single jar actually covers. Margaux: More than you'd think, and the number that matters is the 3 hours. One note before we go — this show is produced by the team at Monégasque, with AI-crafted hosts. See you at the table.