Old Fashioned Apple Cider
prep 5 min, cook time 3 hours
What you need:
• 12 or so small-medium apples, assorted types
• 1 small orange
• 1/2-1 cup brown sugar
• 3-4 cinnamon sticks
• 1 whole nutmeg
• 1 tbsp whole cloves
• water to cover
Directions:
1. Wash and roughly chop apples and orange-do not worry about removing peels, seeds, or stems. Toss into a large stock pot.
2. Add sugar (I start with 1/2 cup, you can always add more later).
3. Add spices, and cover with water.
4. Bring to a boil and boil uncovered for at least an hour.
5. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Allow juice to simmer for at least two hours.
6. Uncover and use a potato masher to roughly mash content of pot. To further reduce: continue simmering until cider is dark and tastes sweet and spicy.
7. When cider is ready allow to cool then strain apple pieces and whole spices into a clean pitcher or pot. If you feel like it you can strain everything through a cheesecloth and twist and squeeze to get every last drop.
Serve hot. Store in the fridge and reheat as desired. I usually get about a 1/2 gallon.
For the bottles, I just saved old wine bottles (best part of the whole process was drinking the wine so I could have those bottles . Took me a while though). I soaked the bottles in water for a while, scrubbed the label off and washed them out really well. The paper I used I think I got in the $1 section of my local craft store, just glued it on and added a quote I liked for the back label. Stuck a little raffia around the neck of the bottle and voila! Homemade apple cider!
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