Mulled Cider

Mulled Cider
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
About 10 minutes
Rating
4(529)
Notes
Read community notes

This is a recipe for a hot beverage we enjoy on cold winter evenings. When curled up with a good book in front of a blazing fire, nothing tastes better than cider.

Preferably, it is made with cloudy, unfiltered sweet cider, the fresh juice of pressed apples, which I combine with cloves, allspice berries and cinnamon sticks. After being steeped together like tea, the cloves and allspice come to the top and can be removed before serving, and the stick of cinnamon, which sinks to the bottom, can be served with the liquid. Add bourbon or rum if you wish.

Featured in: THE PURPOSEFUL COOK; Southern Winter Dish: Black-Eyed Peas in a Ragout

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • quarts unfiltered sweet cider
  • 12allspice berries
  • 12whole cloves
  • 2sticks cinnamon, broken into pieces
  • 6tablespoons bourbon (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

153 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 0 grams protein; 11 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place all ingredients but the bourbon in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the mixture is just below a boil. Cover, remove from the heat and let steep 5 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    At that point, you will notice that the allspice and cloves have floated to the top; remove and discard them. Pour a tablespoon of bourbon, if desired, into each of six mugs and pour the cider mixture over it. Spoon a few cinnamon pieces into each mug, and serve immediately.

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4 out of 5
529 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

My "cheater" version is to heat cider in the microwave, then insert a spiced tea bag (orange spice works well) and brew as you would tea. Then add bourbon and a little honey if you need a lot of bourbon :)

My wife prepared something very similar at our recent Christmas party The drink is called "Wasaile" and I think the origin is British. We added spiced rum. Several whole oranges with cloves poked into them were floated in the pot, a two gallon stock pot in our case. It was a big hit!

Fresh lemon juice brightens it up and balances the sweetness. Added one TBSP to a gallon of cider. Have made recipe as is and with a quartered orange. Both good.

Wassail is a traditional British hot, mulled cider. My wife found a great recipe for it that includes cranberry juice (admittedly not completely traditional). Try it with brandy - very good stuff. PS: there is an old Yule carol about going Wassailing - you can Google it.

Slow cooker mulling. Star anise, dried orange peel, and lemon peel. Actually like gin in cider like this.

Made this with rum rather than bourbon, and added about two tablespoons of brown sugar as well. Accidentally left it summering for a while once I put in the rum, since other holiday things were being prepared, but it was still very good.

Mulled cider is pretty delicious any way you make it. I like that this recipe is heavy on the allspice, but I would add add even more cloves. But it's missing 2 things I think would improve the complexity and interest: 1/5" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced, and one orange, sliced thickly. Then garnish with sliced oranges. In my next batch I'm also going to try adding some whole peppercorns.

Added star anise pods, orange peel, and 1/2 an orange cut into rounds, as well as 1 spoonful of brown sugar (our cider was tart) and 1 tsp lemon juice.

I also add star anise. Then I mix with mezcal. The perfect ‘ber month drink.

Added orange and lemon peel strips. Very good!

My "cheater" version is to heat cider in the microwave, then insert a spiced tea bag (orange spice works well) and brew as you would tea. Then add bourbon and a little honey if you need a lot of bourbon :) Fresh lemon juice brightens it up and balances the sweetness. Added one TBSP to a gallon of cider. Have made recipe as is and with a quartered orange. My wife found a great recipe for it that includes cranberry juice (admittedly not completely traditional). Try it with brandy - very good stuff

Mulled cider is pretty delicious any way you make it. I like that this recipe is heavy on the allspice, but I would add add even more cloves. But it's missing 2 things I think would improve the complexity and interest: 1/5" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced, and one orange, sliced thickly. Then garnish with sliced oranges. In my next batch I'm also going to try adding some whole peppercorns.

Added star anise pods, orange peel, and 1/2 an orange cut into rounds, as well as 1 spoonful of brown sugar (our cider was tart) and 1 tsp lemon juice.

My version is from my mulled ginger drinks from Nov/Dec 2018 in Bibbiena, when I was nursing my fibromyalgia aches. Mara liked it. There ginger with spices, cinnamon, cloves, maybe nutmeg fresh oranges and lemons. Today, 2.22.2020 i made a small pan with 2 orange spice tea bags, mulled wines spices from Williams Sonoma mulling spices, cinnamon sticks,cloves. In a glass mug, I put the mulled liquid, two of the small spoons of monk fruit sugar and a 1/2 shot of Jamison’s whiskey - quite nice.

I have made this--mulled cider--for several years. I found the recipe online attributed to Bobby Flay. It is easy and foolproof. I slice a orange or two and float the slices on top As for wassail, the only wassail I know about is made with wine and rum.

Slow cooker mulling. Star anise, dried orange peel, and lemon peel. Actually like gin in cider like this.

Made this with rum rather than bourbon, and added about two tablespoons of brown sugar as well. Accidentally left it summering for a while once I put in the rum, since other holiday things were being prepared, but it was still very good.

Fresh lemon juice brightens it up and balances the sweetness. Added one TBSP to a gallon of cider. Have made recipe as is and with a quartered orange. Both good.

Make lemon rounds studded with cloves, place in heavy DOF glasses Pour in a shot of Jameson’s Fill glass with hot cider Samascott (at NYC farmers markets) that has been heatin with cloves and lemon ends.

My wife prepared something very similar at our recent Christmas party The drink is called "Wasaile" and I think the origin is British. We added spiced rum. Several whole oranges with cloves poked into them were floated in the pot, a two gallon stock pot in our case. It was a big hit!

Wassail is a traditional British hot, mulled cider. My wife found a great recipe for it that includes cranberry juice (admittedly not completely traditional). Try it with brandy - very good stuff. PS: there is an old Yule carol about going Wassailing - you can Google it.

Wassailing is the origin of Christmas caroling: going from house to house, singing songs for the reward of hot mulled cider.

I added small pcs of orange, lemon slices, thin cut, and tiny pcs of apple.

Sounds good, but I suggest upping the rum to a quarter cup.

My "cheater" version is to heat cider in the microwave, then insert a spiced tea bag (orange spice works well) and brew as you would tea. Then add bourbon and a little honey if you need a lot of bourbon :)

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