14 Drinks That Get Better With A Spoonful Of Hot Honey

If you've experimented with flavorful ingredients to infuse into honey, you have sampled the punchy delight of hot honey. Honey made with spice — chilies, flakes, or even hot sauce — offers an infusion that straddles the line between heat and sweet. It's the kind of ingredient that can transform everyday recipes, both food and beverage. Once hot honey is stored in your kitchen, it couldn't be easier to spoon into drinks or drizzle on top of mugs for a transformative experience.

Hot and cold drink recipes alike can be enhanced with the hot sweetener. From boozy favorites to cool classics, we have assembled a list of drinks that can sparkle even brighter once hot honey has entered the chat. As with any ingredient inclusion, start conservatively and adjust to taste. While you can always add more hot honey later on, trying to come back from a drink that has been overly flavored with spicy sweetness can be a more challenging task. Regardless of the recipe you try, enjoy savoring sweeter, spicier sips of your crafted concoctions. 

While regular honey can naturally sweeten your coffee drink of choice, adding hot honey to the mix is sure to help wake you up. Stirring hot honey into your go-to cup of Joe, whether it is an oat milk latte or an Americano, can build a sweeter tasting profile that also packs a subtle kick of heat. For easy distribution, make simple syrup by combining hot honey with equal parts hot water before adding the ingredient to your hot or cold coffee beverage. 

Tea can be a relaxing break or the zinger you need to power through an afternoon. Opting for hot honey to swirl into your tea can coax new flavors out of an everyday brew. The simple addition can offer a spicy bent to a classic cup of milk tea or build enjoyable hit of delicate heat in green, black, or chamomile brews. Ginger or peppermint teas become even more dynamic with a spoonful of the sweet-and-spicy stuff. 

When temperatures drop, warm and cozy hot toddy recipes come to the rescue. These comforting beverages can be made even hotter with a spoonful of hot honey. This is the kind of drink destined to warm you from the inside out and can help banish congestion during cold season. Adjust ratios of whiskey, hot honey, and lemon juice to suit your palate's preferences and serve garnished with a cinnamon stick and citrus wheel. 

Make a chai hot toddy or oat milk chai latte with hot honey. The heat of the spices play well together, and the presence of hot honey can highlight new dimensions of the spices already present in your chai drinks. Chai lovers will delight in the depth of a drink made with hot honey. If you're looking for a booze-free winter warmer, your search can stop here. 

Some of the best hot chocolate recipes incorporate a handful of spices into cups. Hot honey not only draws attention to unique tasting notes in cocoa but it can also elevate the presence of any cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, or chili powder added to recipes. Chocolate and spice play well together, and hot honey makes the pairing an easy one to appreciate.

Made with turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and honey, golden milk is a sweet and spicy beverage perfect to end a day. Stirring hot honey into this drink recipe is a spice-seeker's dream. Using hot honey to make the comforting drink steps on the pedal of heat and push this drink into a punchy category that can be served to teetotalers. Make the drink boozy with the addition of rum. 

Among the ingredients that can offer a delicious new twist for your old fashioned cocktail include hot honey. The added presence of spice can draw attention to the unique booze you use to create this beauty of a drink. For those who have enjoyed tinkering with flavored bitters and using cinnamon to elevate drinks made with bourbon and whiskey, hot honey will be an additional resource to any at-home bartender.

A regular Bee's Knees cocktail might seem weak once hot honey is involved. This honey-gin cocktail takes a spicier turn with the gentle punch of hot honey heat. Cocktail connoisseurs can use the spicier palate to draw unique flavors of gin forward, like amplifying juniper or citrus notes found in the booze of choice. Hot honey syrup works best to craft cocktails that are tartly sweet with just a whisper of spice. 

A classic and simple lemonade recipe can be guided into a more mature path when hot honey is used to liven the drink. Whether you're making lemonade at home or are looking to spice up a store-bought version, hot honey can help offset some of the pucker-inducing flavors of citrus. Garnish with mint for a refreshing touch to a sipper that is difficult to place back down.

Whether you prefer banana-forward recipes or fresh strawberry blends, dozens of refreshing smoothie recipes can be made with the addition of hot honey. Balance sweeter notes of chocolate with the heated addition or complement nutty, earthy flavors of almond and cashew nuts with the spicy sweetener. If you've already blended your drink, a quick drizzle can serve as garnish to any filled glass.

A Penicillin cocktail made with hot honey is an amped up classic. Ginger syrup dances perfectly with hot honey, and the spicy inclusion plays well with smoky, peated Scotch whiskies. Fresh lemon juice helps keep this drink balanced. Simply add all of the ingredients to an ice-filled shaker, strain, and serve. 

Ginger, lemon, and honey can be turned into a wellness shot or a soothing warm drink. Using hot honey to make this health-supporting recipe can add the gentle kick you need to get through cold and flu season. Whether you blend the ingredients together for a cool shot or let the ingredient simmer on a stove pot, these ingredients taste as if they were destined to be together.

A classic frothy whiskey sour offers the textured froth of an egg white, the refreshing zing of lemon juice, and whiskey. It's one of the oldest cocktails out there, and it can be upgraded for modern palates with the addition of hot honey. Swap simple syrup for the spicier addition and get ready for an upgraded version of a traditional favorite. 

Include hot honey in your next homemade fresh fruit juice. The subtle heat from the sweetener can bring satisfying warmth to your favorite blends. The sweet-and-spicy combo can be enjoyed in the morning or as a refreshing afternoon treat. For a quick upgrade to store-bought products, drizzle a spoonful into a glass and stir to elevate ready-made beverages.