Yum.

I know this looks like something you should be drinking in the fall and winter, but it is not too late for this cider cocktail! This is a very refreshing drink. I enjoyed my first go at this drink on a very sunny afternoon in my yard a few weeks ago, and it was perfect. This drink is light, a little spicy, and very pretty. You can increase the rum to make it a stronger drink. But, just as a warning, when I was enjoying this cocktail for the first time, I remember saying, “This doesn’t seem very strong. Did you put enough rum in it?”, and then half an hour later saying,” This is stronger than I thought!”. It’s a sneaker, this one. I like that in a drink.

You know what else I like about this drink? For a crowd, you can make most of it ahead of time so that it is easy to serve to your guests, or to set up for them to serve themselves. Make it this weekend. You won’t regret it.

Enjoy!

Cider Cocktail

adapted from Autumn Punch from A Blog Named Scout

Ingredients (for two drinks)

• – 2½ oz spiced rum
• – 4 oz Simply apple juice
• – 2 big pinches of Chinese 5 Spice
• – 2 long threads of lemon peel
• – 2 cinnamon sticks
• – 1 bottle / good quality / hard Cider (I like something with some punch to it, like Strongbow or Blackthorn.)

Directions

(For best results: mix 5 spice powder with apple juice ahead of time. The longer the two things sit together, the better the flavor blend.)

Mix together rum, apple juice, and 5 spice powder. For a small batch, put in cocktail shaker with ice, shake until cold, pour over ice in serving glasses, top with cider, and garnish with lemon peel and cinnamon sticks.

For a larger batch, mix the rum, juice, and powder ahead of time in a pitcher. Set up a station with cold ciders, ice, pitcher and garnishes. Allow people to mix the drinks themselves. It is a pretty easy setup and an easy self-serve drink.

Photograph by Jessica Yager