Mulled Cider

Years ago, my sister made this magical Mulled Cider for some sort of family get together. I remember that she made it in a crock pot, and it had this weird little bag floating around in it. I was pretty sure she was brilliant.

Really, I was just oblivious to how Mulled Cider worked, and when I made it from the recipe in the Beekman Cookbook, I was a little less impressed by my sister's cider.

We did do a couple of things differently.

The Beekman Boys suggested you use whole cloves and allspice berries and just let them bob about in the cider. Then later you have to chase them out, which sounds like a lot of work to me. Plus, whole cloves and allspice berries are expensive.

So, I used:

That's orange zest on the wee plate.

And I put them into tea bags that you'd use for loose teas:

The one on the right is soaked with juice from the zest.

So, that's why it looks a little weird.

And then, they hung out in a crock pot and mulled.

In the recipe, they suggested boiling it on a stove, but using a crock pot is far simpler. You can just let it hang out over on the side while you do other things, and it leaves a spot open on your stove. 

I set it to high and let it boil for a bit, and then I set it on low and it hung out for a few hours until we were ready to drink it. 

In the end, it was just as good as the kind my sister made. But it wasn't as magical since I knew what went on behind the curtains. 

Drinkin' cider with some beardless lumberjack.