Once we reach apple season, I love picking up cider and spicing it up. It's been especially exciting this year living in Portland with having so many farmers markets to shop at for this sweet treat. Since moving here I also discovered Savory Spice Shop - the best spice shop in town - thanks to a friend who recommended it. And just as luck would have it, on my first visit to the shop they were giving out samples of their mulled apple cider! One sip was all it took for me to purchase Savory's mulling spices blend, which also meant we had to pick up some local cider on the way home. Ever since that trip, I've been incorporating these mulling spices into recipes as much as possible.
Of course you can always make your own mulling spices - here's a great recipe - which I have done in a pinch, but I actually enjoy the process of scouting out a great blend. And being able to try different shops' variations of this spicy medley is a bit like finding the perfect bottle of wine - methinks I'm starting tosound a bit like a mulling sommelier! That would be a lovely job, don't you think?
If you're interested in trying the mulling spices I used, you can order them here or head to your local shops. Happy spice hunting!
mulled cider ingredients
serves 2 to 4 depending on your mug size
1 tablespoon mulling spices
4 cups cider
optional addition
1/4 calvados, rum, bourbon or other liquor of choice
Pour the cider into a pot and turn the heat to high. Once the cider comes to a boil, reduce the heat, add the mulling spices loose or contained and let simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Then remove the spices - or strain - and ladle the mulled cider into mugs. You can refrigerate the leftover mulled cider for up to one week in a tightly sealed container.
This warm drink is sure to bring you and your loved ones good cheer this Holiday Season.
“Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter.”
~ Shauna Niequist, excerpt from Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way
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