h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here's a great discussion of hot toddy variations: http://www.drinkstreet.com/searchresults.cgi?drinkid=1063&drinkname=category:12 Mostly even folks who didn't care for flavor say it helps. I'd like to add Earl Grey tea has bergamot which is recommended by a Parkinson's clinic to cut phleghm, whereas milk can make it worse for many people. Lady Jane Grey is a less strong bergamot, more lemony type which I tried in toddy and find good. Regular teas, both green and black, have Theophylline, a chemical which relaxes the smooth muscles supporting the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma and bronchitis in doses large enough to affect asthma (it's in prescriptions for breathing medications).
I've also read in a health ins magazine that buckwheat honey is particularly beneficial for colds, if you can get it. Extra zinc (about 50mg/day) with Vit C not only is said to pump up immune system, I've now read there's evidence it apparently interferes with life cycle of virus so maybe that's why it shortens duration of cold. (Use lozenges for sore throat, rub outside of throat with Ben Gay, etc and pin a sock snuggly around it for the night, rub up chest for congestion and wear an old T shirt. Green tea is a stimulant and way stronger antioxidant than vit E, with anticarcinogenic, antitumorigenic, and antibiotic properties and increases energy, although I think it is more bitter, maybe in a toddy it would not be onoticed. I use 2 parts each rum & lemon, 5 of tea & 2 big spoonfuls honey, very hot. A bit of grated ginger in the heating water and strained out before using for the toddy is also supposed to boost immune system and is helpful for nausea. Those old wives knew more than some people thought.