Spiked Mulled Cider

This spiked mulled apple cider is full of warming spice flavor with a little bit of a kick - the perfect winter cocktail to warm you through and through!

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword Holiday Cocktail, Spiked Cider, Spiked Mulled Cider, Winter Cocktail Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings

Calories 180kcal

Author Isabel Laessig

Ingredients

4 cups apple cider or unfiltered apple juice
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
4 whole cloves
4 strips orange peel
4 oz brandy or apple brandy, rum, spiced rum

Instructions

Put all of the ingredients except the rum in a small pan and warm over a low heat. Gently bring to almost a simmer and warm for approx 30 minutes without boiling.
Put 1 oz of brandy in the bottom of 4 glasses and top each up with the warm cider, straining off the spices and orange peel as you go. Serve warm.

Notes

Slow Cooker: You can also prepare this in the slow cooker. Instead of putting everything apart from the rum in a pot, place all ingredients in a slow cooker and warm on low for approximately 2 - 4 hours. Then serve as above, putting the brandy in the bottom of the glasses as you serve.

Don't rush it: the flavors from the spices need time to evolve, so let them have it.

Whole Spices: use a few different whole spices rather than a ready-made blend. Whole spices save you getting bits of spice residue in your drink and each spice adds a different flavor which you can adjust to taste.

Apple Juice: use a good apple juice as a base. Our Spiked Mulled Cider is all about the apple, so try to get an unfiltered apple cider/juice as a base. Try to avoid juice from concentrate, it's just not the same.

Spike it: with a spirit that pairs well with apples such as brandy, apple brandy, rum, or spiced rum.

Nutrition