It tastes better than cough medicine, and now researchers think it may be better at relieving coughs, too. Dark chocolate may have health benefits to weigh against fears of tooth decay or putting on weight. (Riiiiight!)

A chemical compound, theobromine, which is found in cocoa, has proved more effective at stopping persistent coughing than codeine.

No comments yet from Dentists. I'm sure they will be thrilled by this research (no doubt, they financed this study!).

One of the nicest things about a hot toddy is this lovely sounding name. The word toddy appears to be a corruption of the Hindu word tari, which is used for a sweet alcoholic drink made of palm sap. From there the word seems to have found its way to Scotland, where it is used by Robert Burns in a poem of 1785 to mean a generic alcoholic drink. Nowadays the word is almost always used as here, to describe a hot, sweetened drink of spirits and water (tap or bottled water should not matter unless the recipe calls for one kind) .

There are no grand medical claims attached to this recipe. Nobody says that it will cure your cold, and indeed alcohol can deplete your immune system, but a hot toddy may well make you feel a little better.

Please be aware that many over-the-counter cold cures should not be taken with alcohol, and so you should be careful about combining different forms of cold relief.

If you are taking certain prescription medicines or are breastfeeding, you may not be able to take over-the-counter cold remedies, but may be allowed the small amount of alcohol in this toddy. If you have any doubts, please check with your pharmacist or an appropriate health professional.

• Whisky - You don't need to blow your best single malt on this, and you probably wouldn't be able to appreciate it anyway. A supermarket blend will do just fine; the sort that in old cowboy films would be called 'gulpin' whisky'
• Bourbon
• Dark rum, such as Pusser's Rum, or even overproof Rum - although you probably don't need to use quite as much for the desired effect
• Brandy
  50ml/2fl oz./3.5 tablespoons boiling water
  Half a teaspoon of honey
  A dash of lemon and a couple of cloves (both optional)

  Method
  Place the alcohol in a container and stir the honey into the whisky.

  Add the boiling water (pouring it over the teaspoon to clean off the last of the honey).

  At this stage you may wish to pop it into a microwave to make sure it's really piping hot. Make sure the toddy is in a microwavable container and cook for no more than a minute or until it's fizzing and you can smell alcohol.

  Add lemon and cloves to taste.