I love this stuff and it's a hit at Halloween parties!
This recipe is for one gallon of cider. Double it, triple it, make as much as you need. Leaving the whole ingredients in the cider while you or guests ladle it out into cups makes this a much more festive (scary looking) drink. Plus, guests get little "surprises" in the bottom of their cups!
1-gallon fresh apple cider from the grocery store or farm market (buy local if you can)
3-cinnamon sticks or one teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-2 star anise
7-cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
10-pepper corns or a pinch of black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar (taste first before adding sugar...it may be sweet enough)
Optional:
Juice or peels from one lemon or orange (to taste)
Hand full of raisins (add nothing to flavor but look great)
Dried fruit such as apricots, pineapple, mixed dried fruit, etc. (once again, looks great in the steaming pot)
Mix everything in a suitably sized pan or stock pot and heat to just under boiling. Making this a couple of days ahead of time, chilling it in the refrigerator and then re-heating as needed will help the flavors seep into the brew. Serve hot or cold. Warn guests if you leave the whole spices in so as to avoid a choking hazard and certainly ensure children do not get whole spices in their drinks if they are served. I'm not certain whether making this in advance will promote fermentation and alcohol production as this is not the inent so "brew" responsibly!
Allan
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