Mulled Apple Cider

MULLED SPICE APPLE CIDER

Before you know it, it’s gonna be Fall, y’all!

This drink is like the sangria of harvest season. It just really warms you up at the first chill of the year. I’m hopping on the bandwagon early and riding the train of honeycrisp apples that I got from Heinen’s. They’re some of the bigger apple varieties, so of course I’m going to use them because they’re just sweet and tart enough to make a cider more delicious.

I like to throw in a handful of peppercorns to offset the sweetness. I want this to be more spiced than anything else.

This time around, I made enough for 2 people. You can obviously double or triple this recipe per your serving size. It’s only Brandon and I here, so a half gallon of honeycrisp apple cider from Patterson’s is all we need, and you can get it at Heinen’s!

MULLED SPICE APPLE CIDER RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon Honeycrisp apple cider, or regular apple cider if no Honeycrisp

• 3 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and chopped into cubes

• 1 orange, peeled and sliced

• 2 tbsp tri-colored peppercorns, or black peppercorns is fine

• 5 cinnamon sticks

• 1/2 cup frozen cranberries

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

• 1/2 teaspoon all-spice

• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar, or cane sugar

• 1/2 cup Watershed Distillery Apple Brandy

Instructions

In a fairly large, deep sauce pot, bring apple cider to a boil, then set to low-medium.

Add in cinnamon sticks.

Next, drop in the cranberries and turbinado sugar.

Slowly add in the orange slices and the cubed apples.

Layer in the peppercorns and drop in the pumpkin spice and all-spice.

Lastly, pour in the apple brandy, stir entire mixture a few times to fully incorporate, then simmer on low boil for 45 minutes.