How To Best Add Spices To Hot Spiked Cider

Whether your fall kicks off in September or March, it is worth being familiar with iconic fall flavors. One popular beverage that embodies the fall season hot cider. This sweet yet tart hot drink is perfect for warming the hands that hold it. It is also easily converted into an adult beverage for a fireside gathering. However, turning hot cider into an alcoholic beverage means balancing both the flavors of the cider and the spirits you add to it. Spices add the perfect supporting flavors to this beverage to ensure a flavorful drink that can lend sweet, warming, earthy, or even slightly bitter tones to the final product. Choosing which spices to add and how might seem more complicated than checking the label of your apple cider jug before you buy it, but there is no need to worry.

Content creator and cocktail recipe developer Jordan Hughes, @highproofpreacher on TikTok and Instagram, has tried and true advice for adding spices to hot spiked cider. Hughes' top choices for spices are fresh clove, allspice, and cinnamon. While these spices are Hughes' go–tos, he says that star anise or ginger could be nice additions to the beverage. Whichever spices you choose, however, Hughes urges you to steer clear of the powdered versions, as they may have difficulty dissolving and won't have the same character as fresher varieties.

As one of the seasonings that makes up the pumpkin spice blend, it is no surprise that cinnamon is a popular choice for creating the perfect fall flavor in spiked apple cider. Many drinks where cinnamon is the star will be presented with a cinnamon stick in the beverage, and Hughes notes that this is not just for show. Whole cinnamon sticks work well to add flavor to a drink, but, according to Hughes, might need more time in a hot liquid to fully infuse into the beverage.

If you have less time than anticipated, Hughes has just the trick for a quicker cinnamon flavor: "If you want more cinnamon flavor quickly, I would suggest taking a microplane and grating a bit of fresh cinnamon into the drink, before adding the cinnamon stick into the liquid itself." With this trick, the cinnamon flavors will infuse with the hot spiked cider at a faster rate, though you may notice a change in mouthfeel. Still, if cinnamon is able to upgrade a cheap cup of coffee, it makes sense that this spice can also take a batch of hot spiked cider to the next level.