A wonderful warming drink — wintery, spiced, and wonderfully fragrant! Since today is already a holiday, my dear readers, I'm not coming to you with salads or other festive appetizers, but with a drink instead. After all, there's no time left to buy the ingredients for salads, and there's certainly no time to prepare something new — usually the whole menu is planned out well in advance. You had everything planned out ahead of time, right? ;) So today I'm sharing a drink you can treat yourself and your loved ones to during the holidays and the days that follow. "Hot Apple" is a traditional Czech drink enjoyed during the winter New Year holidays. The name, as you might guess, comes from the apple juice it's made with, and it's served piping hot. Makes 2 large servings or 3 smaller ones.
Ingredients:
- 500 ml apple juice
- juice of 1 small orange
- 1-3 tsp sugar
- 1-3 tsp cognac (optional)
- Spices:
- zest of 1 small orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 5 allspice berries
- 1 cardamom pod
- 1 star anise
How to cook "hot apple" drink
Place all the spices (except the zest) in a mortar and lightly crush them to release their aroma. Just 2–3 strokes is enough to break them into coarse pieces. If you don't have a mortar, you can skip this step.
Pour the apple juice into a small saucepan (I use unsweetened juice). Add sugar to taste — I used 2 tsp of brown sugar, but honey works great too. Add the spices and the orange zest, peeled off with a vegetable peeler. Bring to a boil, then simmer on the lowest heat for a couple of minutes. Cover with a lid and let steep for 10 minutes.
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