Hi! I’m alive! Apologies for all the various delays in posting — in addition to the planned time away (the wedding and honeymoon were awesome), work has been super busy and there is never a shortage of other items to fill up free time. I actually had a post for y’all last week but as I was reviewing, realized it was too similar to previous ones and I don’t want to spam anyone’s feed with repetitive content.
But I’m glad to be back! I haven’t done any drink (alcoholic or otherwise) recipes on here yet, and it seemed due time. I made this last fall, and once we got back from the honeymoon I was launched straight from 90-degree beaches into mid-October autumn. In addition to a bit of decorating around the apartment, I made my current favorite fall drink to celebrate my long-favorite season.
Note before we get started: Alcohol consumption is entirely your choice and responsibility. I enjoy a good adult beverage, but am also careful to not indulge too much or too frequently to avoid building a habit that could haunt me. If you’d rather avoid alcohol, you can either skip the bourbon entirely or substitute with some vanilla extract and extra water.
All of that said, I love bourbon. My first introductions to alcohol were from people who had the time and resources to have developed good taste (aka not college students) and I tend to prefer strong, savory flavors in drinks and a lot of my foods. My husband, however, much prefers sweet drinks. This is one we both love.
This isn’t a super cheap recipe if you don’t already have the spices, but does serve a lot and a little of each spice goes a long way. The good news is it’s really easy and your house will smell amazing.
Ingredients:
- 6 cups spiced cider (I get mine from Trader Joe’s — if spiced isn’t available, you can do regular fresh cider and just use more spices/simmer for longer)
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup bourbon (it shouldn’t be bad bourbon but it doesn’t have to be pricey — Trader Joe’s offers a bottle that’s fine even served neat for about $15, or Evan Williams Single Barrel is about $25 and really good)
- 2 orange slices
- 2 star anise
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 10 whole cloves
- 10 whole allspice
Instructions:
- Dump it all (gently) into a pot or large saucepan, then bring to a low simmer
- Let simmer for 20-30 minutes, stir occasionally
- Taste test (seriously, you can always add more of something!)
- Serve!
Costs about $15*, makes 6-8 servings.
Thankfully I got enough to make another batch, which I’m very much looking forward to as we settle into fall. Now that wedding planning is over, I’m hoping I can be more consistent about posts.
I’d absolutely love to know what you want to hear more about! I’m not an expert, but am figuring out the adulting thing one step at a time. What would be most helpful to read about as an emerging adult? Let me know in a comment below, or on Twitter @ohgrowup! Thanks for reading, and happy adulting!
*Once again, sorry for the exceptionally rough cost estimate. The spices can be expensive, but everything else is reasonable and you only use a little of each spice.
oh grow up 