Warm hard cider? Yes or no.

Hi everyone just a quick question, will warming hard cider be a bad idea? I love hot apple cider in the winter and was just wondering if warmed hard cider would be better than warm cider with alcohol added after. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

i've had both. not really my thing. for some reason i just don't care for hot alcoholic beverages.

I used to do that all the time. Especially with less than ideal batches of homemade hard cider. Get some mulling spices (or make your own recipe with cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, etc) and warm up a bottle.

I was pretty inconsistent with my cider batches (no recipes, no notes, just wingin' it all the time) so I had plenty of not so good batches. I reserved the good ones for drinking straight and mulled the not so good ones. It made them excellent.

Depending on how much you warm them you risk evaporating off the alcohols. Other than that I see no issues.

Thank you very much for the info. I will mull some and give it shot.

roadymi said:

Depending on how much you warm them you risk evaporating off the alcohols. Other than that I see no issues.

Click to expand...

Is there a 'preferred' method for heating alcoholic beverages? I want to minimize alcohol evaporation, so microwave sounds like it might not be a good idea...

I would heat gently in a covered pan. Maybe even a double boiler tho that is probly overkill. Small, or large even, crockpots work well too.

meadmazer said:

I would heat gently in a covered pan. Maybe even a double boiler tho that is probly overkill. Small, or large even, crockpots work well too.

Click to expand...

Bingo, this is what I do. Keep it covered and DO NOT BOIL. I use a mix of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns and occasionally add spiced rum or whiskey to boost the ABV. The smell alone is worth it.

Can't believe I haven't tried this yet. I've got two cases of cider that a friend made last year--it's so heavily spiced it's almost undrinkable as is, so when he moved he left it all with me. But warming it up and maybe adding a little fresh fruit juice might be just the thing. Definitely trying this when I get home tonight!

Keep the temp under 137 F and the alcohol won't boil off.

JonM said:

Keep the temp under 137 F and the alcohol won't boil off.

Click to expand...

I'd second that. Besides, who wants a burnt mouth? Haha, I actually tried this with a bottle of angry orchard. Added clove and nutmeg, heated in the microwave for about a minute, then stirred with a cinnamon stick. Tasted great! I did degass it though before heating.

Isn't sake served warm? That's the only alcoholic beverage I can think of that's normally served warm.

good sake is traditionally served cold.

Really? Didn't know that... I've always had it warm whenever I've had sake.

Mulled wine, spiced cider, hot buttered rum, etc- all great!

For the cider, I love to add an orange, lemon, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and gently bring up to warm. Let it sit and stay warm, and it's great!

CodyA said:

Really? Didn't know that... I've always had it warm whenever I've had sake.

Click to expand...

True. But a friend who worked at a sushi place said the stuff they serve warm is "the Miller Lite of sake." Then she brought me some amazing, cellar temp, cloudy cups of awesome sake. On the house. I like her.

My mom loves heating up the cider we give here - just a minute or two in the microwave and not spiced or anything. It is nice and warming on occasion. I started brewing last December/January, so the holidays were kind of over, but I am DEFINITELY going to try doing a hot mulled cider in the crockpot this season. Ditto what other people have said, just don't boil it, when it is warm enough it will just kind of steam on top (per my experience making mulled wine and my German Omi's punch).

I have to credit this thread with saving 40+ bottles of hard cider a friend of mine made. He left it with me when he moved away a few months ago, and it's totally undrinkable by itself--so dry and overspiced (cinnamon and cloves) that I was debating dumping it. Instead, I mixed it with some cranberry juice and fresh cider, heated and added some orange slices, and voila, a terrific holiday wassail punch. Thanks for the idea!

jerrodm said:

I have to credit this thread with saving 40+ bottles of hard cider a friend of mine made. He left it with me when he moved away a few months ago, and it's totally undrinkable by itself--so dry and overspiced (cinnamon and cloves) that I was debating dumping it. Instead, I mixed it with some cranberry juice and fresh cider, heated and added some orange slices, and voila, a terrific holiday wassail punch. Thanks for the idea!

Click to expand...

Always happy to prevent alcohol abuse!