Mulled Apple Cider
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https://instructions.wiki/recipes/mulled-apple-cider
Makes 8 cups · 10 min prep · 30 min cooking
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon (2 L) fresh apple cider
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
- 2 star anise pods
- 1 orange, scrubbed and cut into thin rounds
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar, optional
Bundle the whole spices
Tie the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and star anise in a square of cheesecloth, or load them into a large tea ball. Use whole spices only. Ground spices never dissolve, so they leave the cider gritty on the tongue and cloudy in the glass, and no strainer takes them back out.
Combine in a pot
Pour the cider into a large nonreactive pot. Add the spice bundle and the orange rounds. Add the brown sugar only if the cider tastes sharp on its own.
Heat gently to a bare simmer
Warm the pot over medium-low heat until small bubbles break at the edges and the surface barely moves, about 180F (82C) at the most. Do not let it boil. Boiling turns the cider bitter, cooks off the fresh apple aroma, and pulls harsh tannins out of the orange peel and cloves.
Hold for 20 to 30 minutes
Keep the cider at that bare simmer, adjusting the heat as needed. The spices are steeped when the kitchen smells strongly of cinnamon and a spoonful tastes warm and rounded rather than thin.
Strain and serve
Lift out the spice bundle and the orange slices and discard them. Long steeping past 30 minutes pushes the clove and star anise forward and flattens the apple. Ladle into mugs and serve hot, with a fresh cinnamon stick or orange slice in each if desired.
For a party. A slow cooker on low does the same job and then holds the cider at serving temperature for hours. Strain out the spices at the 30 minute mark and leave the setting on low or warm.