Hot Mulled Hard Cider with Toasted Whole Spices

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A pot of dry hard cider warmed — never boiled — with whole spices toasted in a dry pan until fragrant, plus wide strips of orange peel, a spoon of maple and a splash of apple brandy stirred in off the heat. Holding the pot at a bare steam keeps the alcohol and the apple's crisp acidity intact, so it tastes like cider rather than hot spiced syrup. Make it on the stove for a crowd or hold it in a slow cooker for a party.

Ingredients

• 3 stick cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 whole nutmeg, cracked (or 1/4 tsp freshly grated)
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced into coins

• 2 L dry hard cider (about two 750 ml bottles plus one 16 oz can, 5–7% ABV)
• 1 cup fresh unfiltered apple cider or apple juice
• 1 orange, peel removed in wide strips, then juiced
• 1 lemon, peel removed in wide strips
• 3 tbsp maple syrup, plus more to taste
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 1/3 cup apple brandy, Calvados, or bourbon (optional)
• 1 crisp red apple, thinly sliced, for garnish
• 6 cinnamon sticks, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Set a dry medium skillet over medium heat. Add the broken cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods, star anise, peppercorns and cracked nutmeg. Toast, shaking the pan often, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spices smell warm and fragrant and the cardamom husks look faintly blistered. Do not let them smoke. Slide them onto a plate right away to stop the cooking.
2. Bundle the toasted spices and the ginger coins into a tea ball, a large reusable tea bag, or a square of cheesecloth tied with kitchen twine. (You can also add them loose and strain later, but a bundle makes it easy to pull them once the flavor is right.)
3. Pour the hard cider and fresh apple cider into a wide non-reactive pot (stainless steel or enameled, not bare aluminum) and add the spice bundle, the wide orange and lemon peel strips, the maple syrup and a pinch of salt. Stir once.
4. Warm over medium-low heat until the surface just begins to steam and small bubbles cling to the sides of the pot, about 12 to 15 minutes. You want 160°F to 175°F on an instant-read thermometer. Never let it simmer or boil: a hard boil drives off the alcohol and pulls harsh tannins out of the citrus peel.
5. Hold the pot at that temperature for 20 minutes, adjusting the burner to the lowest setting that keeps it steaming. Taste at the 15-minute mark. When the spice is present but not medicinal, lift out the spice bundle and the citrus peels with tongs.
6. Stir in the juice from the peeled orange. Taste and adjust: another tablespoon of maple if your cider is bone-dry, another squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat. The salt should stay invisible but make the apple flavor pop.
7. Pull the pot off the heat and stir in the apple brandy, if using, so none of it cooks off. Ladle into heatproof mugs or stemmed glasses, float a few apple slices and a cinnamon stick in each, and serve immediately.
8. To hold for a party, transfer to a slow cooker set to Warm (or Low with the lid ajar) and check that it stays under 180°F. Add the brandy just before guests arrive, and top up with fresh hard cider if the pot reduces.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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