Mulled Warm Apple Juice
Updated: Oct 24, 2018
It's cold outside and apples are in season, need I say more? Best thing about this is you end up with quite a bit of it, so I like to use in place of water to cook steel-cut oats or as the base for any smoothie.
Play?
It's very easy to play with this one, add more or less spice, use some pears, grapefruits, or nectarines. I was thinking whole black pepper could give it a good kick or maybe a little cayenne, I'll try this next time.
Ingredients
5 gala or honeycrisp apples, quartered
5 granny smith apples, quartered
1 orange, quartered
3 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1 star anise
12 cups water
Maple syrup, to taste
Procedure
Place all the ingredients in a large pot on medium-high heat and bring to a light boil, the lower heat, cover and simmer for about 4 hrs. If you don’t have the time, then bring up the temp and shorten the cooking time, but I think the taste suffers a bit and makes it cloudy.
Strain. If you can use a fine sieve push the cooked apples with the ladle to get all the juices from the apples, the fine sieve should catch the fiber and leave you with an extra flavorful concoction. I drink as is, but you can add maple syrup at this time by placing the desired amount in a cup and pouring the hot cider on top. Enjoy.
Note: Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Servings: 12 cups
Prep: 10min
Cook: 4hrs or less