A gallon of cider, some fruit and four whole spices, left alone for three hours until the house smells like the recipe.
It holds on Warm all evening, which is most of why it belongs in a slow cooker rather than on the stove.
Why This Recipe Works
- Whole spices rather than ground means the cider stays clear and the flavour builds slowly. Ground cinnamon would cloud it and turn gritty at the bottom of a mug.
- Studding the orange slices with cloves keeps them together, so you can lift them out instead of fishing for eight cloves individually.
- Three hours on Low is extraction rather than cooking. Boiling cider drives off the aromatics you are trying to capture.
- A pinch of salt at the end does what it does everywhere else — it makes the sweetness and the spice read more clearly rather than making it salty.
The Choices You Actually Make
Only four ingredients are compulsory: cider, orange, cloves and cinnamon. Everything else in the list is a decision deliberately left to you.
What kind of cider do you want at the end of three hours?
Rustic, served straight from the crock
Leave the fruit and whole spices in and hold it on Warm. Skip the sieve entirely.
The fruit keeps infusing on Warm and the crock looks like the point of the recipe. This is the version for a party where people help themselves.
Clear, poured from a jug
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve after the three hours, then return it to the cooker on Warm.
Whole cloves and star anise get stronger the longer they sit, so straining fixes the flavour where you liked it rather than letting it keep developing.
Sweeter than the cider is on its own
Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar or maple syrup after cooking, tasting as you go, plus the pinch of salt.
Sweetened at the end rather than the start, because cider varies enormously between brands and pressings. The salt is not for saltiness — it rounds the whole thing out.
For adults
Stir in half a cup to a cup of bourbon, dark rum or brandy just before serving, not before.
Added at the end it keeps its character; added at the start most of it cooks off over three hours and you have spent it for nothing.
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh apple cider
- A gallon of cider, not cider vinegar. Unfiltered cider has far more to work with than clear apple juice.
- Whole cloves and star anise
- Eight cloves and two star anise for a gallon. Both are assertive and both keep strengthening while they sit, which is the argument for straining.
- The unpeeled orange
- Sliced with the peel on, seeds removed. The oil in the peel is doing most of the citrus work here — a peeled orange gives you juice and not much aroma.
How to Make It
Load the cooker
Apple cider into a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker.
Add the fruit
Stud a few orange slices with cloves if you like, then add the orange and apple slices.
Add the spices
Cinnamon sticks, star anise and the sliced ginger if using.
Cook
Cover and cook on Low for 3 hours, or High for 1.5 to 2, until the flavours have melded.
Taste and adjust
Uncover, taste, and sweeten with brown sugar or maple syrup if you want it. Add the pinch of salt, then stir in the vanilla.
Strain or not, then hold
For a clear cider, strain through a fine-mesh sieve; otherwise leave the fruit and spices in. Switch to Warm for serving.
Serve
Stir in bourbon, rum or brandy for adults just before serving, and garnish each mug with an orange twist or a cinnamon stick.
Success Tips
- Do not let it boil. Low is enough, and a hard simmer drives off the aromatics the spices are there to give.
- Taste before sweetening. Ciders vary a great deal, and many need nothing at all.
- Strain if you are keeping it out for hours — otherwise the clove keeps building and eventually dominates.
- Add spirits per batch at the end, or leave the bottle next to the crock so people can choose.
Serving Ideas
Straight from the cooker on Warm, with orange twists and extra cinnamon sticks alongside. It is a good thing to have going during a long afternoon of cooking, which is exactly when it is most useful.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate up to 5 days in a sealed jug. Strain it first if you have not already, or it will keep getting stronger.
Freeze
Freezes up to 3 months, strained. Leave headspace in the container, since it expands.
Reheat
Gently on the stove or back in the cooker on Low. Avoid boiling on the reheat for the same reason as the first time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use apple juice instead of cider?
It works but tastes noticeably thinner. Cider is unfiltered and carries far more apple character, which is what three hours of infusing is there to draw out.
Can I use ground spices?
Better not to. Ground cinnamon and cloves cloud the cider and settle as grit in the bottom of the mug. Whole spices are also what make straining possible.
It has gone too spiced. Can I fix it?
Strain out the whole spices immediately and dilute with a little fresh cider. Clove in particular keeps extracting for as long as it sits in the pot.
