How to Make Mulled Cider at Home

An easy mulled cider recipe, perfect for when the weather turns chilly, weather you have a fire at home or not!

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Mulled Cider

It’s the second of December! Well past the time for one to enjoy the delights of mulled cider and mulled wine! There is just something about cold weather, a roaring fireplace and a spiced drink! Do you enjoy warm, spiced drinks when the weather turns cold?

Our recipe for mulled cider follows the same principle as our mulled wine (click for recipe), with citrusy notes, a touch of spice and because it’s cider, apples, definitely apples!

Mulled Cider Ingredients

The Cider

To me, an old fashioned, traditional, still apple cider works best. Fizzy cider don’t work as well for me. By the way, if you are in the US, the cider I’m talking about here, is what you might know as hard cider, the alcoholic variety, not apple juice.

The Fruit

Apples – as it’s apple cider we are using, we definitely want to add some apple slices into the whole mix for some fresh, crisp tones in the finished product.

Citrus Fruit – oranges and lemons are a must in any mulled drink, adding a slight zingy dimension to your concoction.

Apple Juice – I love using a little apple juice, again for a fresh flavour to the whole apple cider brandy. It also provides the liquid base for the initial mulling of all the aromatics and flavourings, as you’ll see.

The Spices

Ginger – I stick with the ginger in this too because its warming citrus aroma just complements and heightens all the other flavours in the drink.

Cinnamon and Cloves – just what you need to complete the picture but I only use a tiny, tiny piece of cinnamon. Many people don’t realise how overpowering cinnamon can be and it doesn’t take much for it to smother everything else, giving the final product an overly sweet spicy aftertaste. If you drink masala chai, you’ll know just what I mean!

That’s about it. Some people like to add vanilla and star anise into the mix, like Jamie Oliver does. Vanilla is good, star anise, I’m not so sure. But to each, his own!

mulled wine
Mulled Wine

Added Alcohol in Mulled Cider

Our Mulled Wine recipe, above, has Cointreau added to it to complement all that citrus aroma and flavour. But, with Mulled Cider, as the overriding theme is all about the apples, I have to go with some sort of apple brandy.

The obvious one to go for is Calvados, apple brandy from Normandy, France. My next favourite brandy for this is Apple Cider Brandy, produced locally. Apple brandy makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

However, they are both rather expensive, well, I guess because I never buy anything less than 5 years old. If you find the price prohibitive or cannot get apple brandy where you are, go for whatever good quality brandy you can get.

So there you have it folks, this holiday season, have a large pot of this, very lightly simmering away as your guests arrive, and greet them with a small glass of sweet and spicy mulled cider. They’ll love you for it!

Now, let’s get our aprons on!

If you like the recipe and article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood.

Lin xx

How to make the best Mulled Cider

Click here for an easy mulled cider recipe, perfect for when the weather turns chilly, weather you have a fire at home or not!
4.96 from 25 votes
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: British
Keyword: alcohol
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 10 (Makes 1.25 litres/5 cups)
Calories: 75kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 125 ml apple juice
  • 100 g white sugar
  • 1 small stick cinnamon
  • 3 cloves
  • 2.5 cm fresh ginger
  • 1 large unwaxed orange sliced in rings
  • 1 unwaxed lemon sliced in rings
  • 1 litre good quality cider
  • 125 ml brandy

Instructions

  • Place all the ingredients apart from the cider and brandy into a medium sized saucepan.
  • Heat on medium until the sugar has dissolved, stirring well.
  • Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
  • Add the cider and brandy and continue to heat on low heat. After 5 minutes or so, it should have warmed through and be ready to be served. I like to leave it on the lowest heat setting and top up my glass as needed.

Nutrition

Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
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21 thoughts on “How to Make Mulled Cider at Home”

  1. Elizabeth O.

    It sounds like a lovely drink, but what attracts me more is how beneficial this drink is for people during the winter! It’s perfect for keeping your immune system up and ready to battle flu and allergies!

  2. Annette Yedlin

    That looks really tasty! What a great drink for the Holiday and i will definitely be sharing this with the family! Thank you

  3. Mulled Cider is my favorite and i am fond of doing experiments and make new recipes for my family, this is perfect for Christmas family gathering. Thank you for sharing.

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