Spiced Cider I

This was made Halloween night while enjoying the evening with family.  "It's mid November!" you say, "Why did you wait so long to post this seasonal treat?"  For starters, it was terrible.  Not to mention, we couldn't find any cool glasses to put it in for a photo shoot. (I lifted this photo from Brides.com).  There was talk of venturing out to purchase an appropriate glass for the photo, but then a major distraction occurred. Truth be told, the distraction involved attempts to delude ourselves into thinking the cider wasn't awful by mixing equal parts brandy to spiced cider and downing it between bites of mini-Snickers. At that point, it wasn't safe to drive anywhere, not to mention there were still lots of mini-Snickers, and I won't walk away from a mini-Snickers without a fight. As an aside, I must say that I thank God everyday (sometimes two or three times a day) that Snickers are vegetarian.

Winner, Loser or Meh

Depends.  Auntie "EQ" swears to this day that the cider was delicious, but she started with equal parts brandy to cider, so keep that in mind.

We'll try another version later this month.  This version is great:  Spiced Cider II

Recipe

I used a 4 quart round for this

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/8 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 1 large orange, quartered with peel
• 2 quarts apple cider

Place first 3 ingredient into a coffee filter and tie with string.  Add all other ingredients to the crock and stir.  Add tied coffee filter with spices and cook on low for 4 hours. Remove coffee filter and orange quarters.  Serve. (With brandy if desired).