I’m ill. Not seriously. Not yet, anyway. Runny nose. Headache. Sore throat. Gloomy outlook. Shouldn’t be surprised, really. I was warned about this. My daughter started school last week and children are filthy. She was bound to drag some pestilence home with her.

In casting about for relief, I recalled a home remedy my long-dead Nana would brew for me when I was a wee tot. I’ve given it a go, feel slightly improved and as flu season is impending, I thought I’d share it with you….

Nana’s Sore Throat Remedy
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tbsp honey
1/2 oz Canadian whisky
Combine in a heavy mug. Fill with hot water.

As you can see, I’ve come by my interest in cocktails honestly (whatever that turn of phrase means exactly) as the nostrum administered me by my dear Nana is, in fact, a Hot Whisky Toddy.

A weak one, I grant you, but I would have been five.

I phoned up my father to verify that I remembered this correctly and he assured me that, yes indeed, Nana regularly administered honeyed Crown Royal to her ill grandchildren. More: he noted that my mother actually cleared this with our family physician. “Whisky’s the best thing for a sore throat,” she was told.

Ah, the seventies. It was a different time. I’m sure Ol’ Doc Fisher was sloshed when he imparted that pearl of medical wisdom.

Now, if you will excuse me, I feel a cough coming on. I’d best do something about that.