Iris
Left: Hot spiced cider (my preference) Right: Cold spiced cider
Finally, the temperature is dropping and fall seems to have finally found its stride. There have even been a few stray snowflakes spotted in my area. As a winter-born Sagittarius, I love this time of the year. This is hands-down my favorite food season. Wait. What? Food season? I absolutely love autumn and winter cooking–the jewel-colored produce, root vegetables, stews, soups, hearty dinners. I love it all. Oh, and did I mention apples?
I love apples–in savory and sweet dishes, desserts and soups. Recently, I went apple-picking and brought home more apples than seemed humanly possible to consume so I had to start somewhere. Nothing says autumn to me more than drinking hot spiced cider by the fire. (I occasionally like to pretend I’m the female protagonist in a Jane Austen novel.) On most chilly nights you can find my curled up on my couch under a blanket that may or may not be a Snuggie (I’ll never tell) watching one of those sappy chick flicks (I’m looking at you Reese Witherspoon) with a huge mug of hot cider in my hand. And, yes, spiced cider can be served cold but people who prefer it that way are weirdos. I’m kidding. (Sort of.)
So, in the Great Cider Debate where do you fall?
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So I’ve never made homemade cider and I had no idea you could do it at home. Do you feel it’s really worth it?
For spiced cider I prefer hot. If it’s plain cider I don’t care either way.
Didn’t you just post a cider recipe on your site?? It’s super easy to make. I have a really powerful juicer that extracts just about every drop of juice from fruit–add the juice and some spices of your choice to a large pot and simmer until it reaches 160 degrees (if you want to pasteurize it so it keeps for more than a week) and, voila, you’re done.
I totally feel like it’s worth it–we recently tasted some store-bought cider that was bitter and then we tasted a heavily spiced cider that left a metallic taste on our tongues, so I figured it was just best to make my own.