11 Things You Haven't Thought to Add to Your Apple Cider (2024)

FAQs

What's good to mix with apple cider? ›

Traditionally cider is spiked with dark spirits, like the rum and bourbon in the recipes above. But what if you want something a little lighter? Vodka can do the trick. Since it doesn't contribute much in the way of flavor, we add fresh ginger for its distinctive, peppery-sweet flavor.

If you want to go 'wild', add half a Campden tablet per 5 litres of juice. If you're adding a cultured yeast, add one Campden tablet per 5 litres of juice, wait 24 hours, then add the yeast. Both Campden tablets, hydrometers and a range of cultured yeast are easily available from all good home brew shops.

Maple syrup

This one might sound a little strange, but maple and apple go so well together. Have this combo cold—just add a teaspoon or so of syrup to your cider and top with sparkling water. If you prefer your cider warm, just stir in a bit of syrup as you heat your cider.

Homemade Apple Cider Ingredients:

But feel free to use whichever varieties (or mix of varieties) that you love most. I recommend a mix of tart (i.e. Granny Smith) and sweet (i.e. Gala or Golden Delicious) apples. Oranges: Fresh oranges are essential to giving cider its trademark citrusy flavor.

Apple pie, caramel flan, and fruit tarts are all great desserts to pair with cider. The fruity and sweet flavors in the desserts complement the fruity and sweet flavors in cider. The acidity in cider also helps to balance out the richness of desserts, making them one of the best food pairings for cider.

For a sweeter taste, you can even mix in a teaspoon of honey or a squeeze of lemon. What's even better is that you can drink your green tea and apple cider vinegar cold or hot! If you want to drink it cold, pop it in the fridge to chill and add some ice to your glass when you're ready to drink!

Enhance Your Cider with Fruit. Using fruit other than apples in hard cider is common and adds great additional flavor. Some of the more common fruit selections are pear, cherry, peach and pineapple. Other options include mixed berries, blueberry, mango, blackberry.

If you like your cider sweeter, then you can add a sweetener as well as the priming sugar in the bottling step (not extra sugar) to the bottle at the point of bottling.

Fermenting with apple juice from the store will give a cider with ABV range of 5–6%. One simple method is to add sugar to the apple juice. A pound of sugar to five gallons will increase the alcohol by 2%. However, this does affect the flavor of the cider by thinning it out.

The slower the fermentation the better the cider will taste. It is really important not to exceed 27°C. When the fermentation has finished (the gravity reading on the hydrometer will be the same for a few days and will be under 1000 SG) siphon off the yeast into another clean sterilised container.

How do you reduce the bitterness in cider? ›

Back sweetening reduces perceived sourness, bitterness and saltiness, but may take time to blend in and not give a “raw” impression of unfermented sugar or juice. Higher carbonation adds carbonic acid to the cider, which gives a “bite” to the finish and can help balance sweetness.

Too warm a fermentation, insufficient aging and conditioning, or an unhealthy fermentation may all give the wrong alcohol impression by favoring solvent character which is never appropriate in cider.

Apple cider contains polyphenols, which are compounds in plants that act as antioxidants. They can help the body to fight against free radicals and cell damage, lowering your risk of certain types of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Apple cider is a tasty drink comprised of freshly pressed apples, often served infused with spices such as cinnamon, anise, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Just about any apple makes decent cider, though the nuances of each apple variety will permeate the beverage.

It's absolutely important to dilute ACV before consuming it. Having it straight can harm your teeth and esophagus.

Apple cider can be served either hot or cold depending on your preferences. If you decide to warm your cider up before serving it, try adding fall flavors to create a unique and warming beverage.

Apple cider is THE go-to when it comes to taking summery sangria into fall, but it can be a little sweet. Pair it with cranberry juice to keep it tart, and you can drink this all fall and winter long.

The easiest, and hence, most common way of using apple cider vinegar in weight loss is to drink it! When mixed with other healthy ingredients like lemon, honey, cayenne pepper, and ginger, apple cider vinegar drinks help with weight loss, improve digestion, and flush out toxins.