Spirited cocktails for winter.

There is a certain wind-chill factor seldom mentioned on weather reports. It's the point at which consenting adults agree that "having a drink" means sipping something hot.

Winter is no time for a "tall cold one."

Whether you plan to meet at a bar, a gastropub, a cafe, or on the couch, your wintry drink should be warm to the touch and the taste.

In this economy, you might want to experiment at home, and stock up on less expensive alternatives, applejack brandy instead of Calvados, or triple sec instead of Cointreau.

At home you can keep it simple with hot chocolate (or coffee) and a splash of Godiva, Frangelico, or Kahlua; or hot apple cider with a shot of applejack brandy.

Or try a toddy. Basically a blend of booze, hot water, spices, and sugar, toddies are old-style, 18th-century drinks that imbibers referred to as "doctor's orders for what ails you."

At the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., on 18th Street below Chestnut, head 'tender Al Sotack makes a Scotch Skin he calls Rush's Rx. Do try this at home:

A dash (1/4 teaspoon) of tincture of cinnamon and clove. A splash of Angostura bitters; a teaspoon of honey syrup; maybe some demerara sugar; a shot of a blended whiskey; hot water; and the peel of a large lemon.

Franklin Mortgage has been named one of the Top 25 Bars in America by GQ magazine, and one of Esquire magazine's Best Bars in America, thanks to Sotack, who develops and writes the lengthy descriptions of each of the cocktails. Do not shrink from his Hot Milk Punch (hot milk, Jamaican rum, cognac, some demerara, and nutmeg).

Getting the balance of ingredients right is a matter of alchemy at Franklin Mortgage - and at the city's other moody (and totally legal) speakeasy, the Ranstead Room, tucked away on a small street below Market, off 20th. There, try the Spiced Cider made of fresh-pressed, steamed cider, spiced in-house with cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and spiked with either rum or bourbon.

Elsewhere in the city, Cuba Libre, on Second Street in Old City, makes a Cafe Cuba Libre with Cuban coffee, steamed coconut milk, and spiced rum.

McGillin's Olde Ale House, tucked away on Drury Street, south of Chestnut and east of Broad, emphasizes chocolate and cream. Try the Snowshoes (hot chocolate, butterscotch liqueur, whipped cream); or the Drury Sleigh Ride (hot chocolate, creme de menthe, Ryan's Irish Cream, and whipped cream).