Hot drinks for a cold weekend

With more snow and cold temperatures in the forecast for the weekend and beyond, we're not really feeling ice cold drinks right this second. And that gives us a good excuse to check out the hot drinks that have popped up on menus around town. Here are a handful of winter warmers that are intriguing us as we steel ourselves for the chill.

Bhakti Toddy at Jelly
We hardly think a hot toddy needs messing with, since the combination of whiskey, water, sugar and lemon served hot is downright soul-warming, but we'll make an exception for the Bhakti Toddy. The mix of spiced rum and spicy Bhakti chai tea tastes like the holiday season -- and it's a hell of a way to kick off a morning.

The A.M. Manhattan and the Orange Truffle Shuffle at Snooze
Speaking of starting your morning right, Denver's a.m. eatery has a pair of hot drinks worth drinking with breakfast (or while you suffer the inevitable wait for a table). The A.M. Manhattan combines bourbon, Irish cream, espresso and warm milk. The Orange Truffle Shuffle is a hot mix of brandy, orange liqueur and chocolate syrup and milk.

Irish Coffee at the Irish Snug
The Irish Snug pours a mean Irish Coffee, complete with Irish whiskey, brown sugar and freshly whipped cream. But if you're not married to tradition, the rest of their hot drinks menu is worth perusing, too: hot buttered rum, an orange-vanilla hot toddy and, yes, peppermint schnapps hot chocolate all make the list.

Le Hot Cider and Le Hot Chocolat at Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar
Le Grand is experimenting with many hot drinks right now, but the two that have made the list are worth a special trip. Le Hot Chocolat mixes vanilla rum, Bailey's Irish Cream and salted caramel into hot chocolate and livens the whole think up with a kiss of absinthe. Le Hot Cider is a classic mix of spiced rum and hot apple cider.

Caffe Corretto at Il Posto
Caffe Corretto is Italian for Corrected Coffee, which sounds about right for a cup of Joe infused with booze. Il Posto pours a little grappa into a shot of espresso, which makes for an ideal nightcap, though we've been known to stop by around happy hour time for a late afternoon pick-me-up, too.

Bonus: the most classic winter warmer of all might be the traditional hot toddy, made with sugar, whiskey, water and lemon. We'll vouch for versions at Steuben's, Colt & Gray, Williams & Graham, Green Russell, Boulder's Bitter Bar and My Brother's Bar.

You might also check out the hot toddy menu at The Market, which covers everything from the classic hot toddy and Irish coffee to more modern inventions, like a hot lemonade mulled with rum and a caramel apple cider spiked with whiskey.