Mulled cider
Dry cider and apple juice simmered with cinnamon, cloves and orange. A warm winter pan for a crowd.
- Time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Glass
- Mug
- Strength
- 1.1 UK units
How to make mulled cider
- Add everything to the pan. Put the cider, apple juice, sugar, orange slices and spices in a large saucepan. Add the brandy now if you are using it.
- Warm slowly. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
- Hold it at a gentle simmer. Keep it just below a simmer, with steam rising and small bubbles at the edge, for 15 minutes. It should smell strongly of spice.
- Taste and serve. Taste it and add more sugar if needed. Ladle into mugs with a slice of orange.
- Glass
- MugNo mug? Any heatproof glass.
- Ice
- No ice
- Garnish
- Orange slice and a cinnamon stickOr: A star anise.
What you need to make mulled cider
Bottles we'd use
- Dry ciderAspall or Westons are widely available and suit mulling.Find it on Amazon
- Mulling spicesWhole spices in a muslin bag are easy to fish out afterwards.Find it on Amazon
Links to Amazon are affiliate links: if you buy through them, Bar Bandol may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The mulled cider story
Spiced, warmed cider belongs to the apple-growing counties of England, where wassailing, the old midwinter custom of blessing orchards, involved drinking from a communal bowl of hot cider or ale. The modern mulled cider is a simple version of that: a pan of cider, spice and a little sugar.
It is easy to get wrong in one way only: do not boil it. Cider is lighter than wine, and a hard boil turns it flat and sour while driving off the flavour. A slow simmer with a splash of apple juice for body gives you a drink that smells of Christmas and tastes of apples.
Mulled cider: your questions answered
What is in mulled cider?
Mulled cider is made with 1000 ml dry cider, 250 ml cloudy apple juice, 50 g soft brown sugar, an orange, 2 cinnamon sticks, 6 cloves and 2 star anise, which makes 8 glasses. Garnish: orange slice and a cinnamon stick.
How strong is mulled cider?
Made to this recipe, mulled cider contains about 1.1 UK units of alcohol per glass. That is worked out from typical bottle strengths, so it changes with the bottles you use. UK guidelines advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week.
What glass do you serve mulled cider in?
Serve mulled cider in a mug. No mug? Any heatproof glass.
