ApfelGrog

So I searched around for a recipe for what to add to my apfelwein to make the infamously mentioned grog. I found the ingredients from a post from EdWort himself, which was rum, turbinado surgar, and cinnamon sticks. I did the following:

• 2 Litres Apfelwein
• 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup rum (to taste)
• 3 medium cinnmon sticks
• 4 whole cloves

I dumped this all in my crockpot and heated it up. Careful not to heat it too high or you'll evaporate off all the ethanol, and then what would be the point?!?

After drinking it, it was absolutely delicious! Those not quite into the higher ABV thought that the rum could have been toned down some, so maybe start at 1/4 cup and work your way up to desired levels. Edited the above to reflect this.

Works well with brandy too!

Hmm, I bet. I have more apfelwein for Christmas, maybe I'll try that out.

How long did you heat it up for? Just to warm it up or could it be heated for several hours before a party?

I had it on warm and it took quite a while to get to a good temp, so I turned it up for a little bit. You can probably turn it to high as long as you monitor the temp. Once it gets to about 150, I'd set it to low. Ethanol's boiling point is about 170F, so as long as you keep it below that with the lid on, you shouldn't lose to much of the good stuff. Much hotter than that and you'll be burning your guests any way

Is turbinado sugar the same thing as cane sugar or "sugar in the raw"?

Yep, Sugar in the Raw.

I did this last night with 3 liters of 3-month old Apfelwein, and it turned out absolutely amazing! With only 6-8 people drinking it, and serving it at 150*, it was gone in an hour and a half. Fortunately, everyone was walking home!

Thanks so much for this recipe. It is definitely a keeper!

Glad you liked it I need an excuse to do it again soon. Did you follow it exactly or did you change it up a little? I was thinking of trying it with spiced rum next time.

As a bit of post-Thanksgiving dinner afterglow, I warmed a sample of a 6 wk old batch in a sauce pan. Didn't measure precisely but was working with about 16 oz of Apfelwein.

Added a tablespoon of brown sugar (no turbinado on hand), half a cinnamon stick and a doubleshot of spiced rum.

That'll do pig. That'll do.

Gremlyn1 said:

Glad you liked it I need an excuse to do it again soon. Did you follow it exactly or did you change it up a little? I was thinking of trying it with spiced rum next time.

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exactly. I thought about replacing the rum with brandy, but I stuck with rum. Next time I'll try to mull it for longer, and use a little less sugar. That's just my preference, though -- I prefer slightly less sweet and slightly more spicy.

Are you all cooking with non carbed cider?

If you heat up carbed stuff, it'll just lose the CO2, so it doesn't much matter.

Very interesting! Thanks for the info

non-carbed. As Gremlyn1 says, heating up carbonated drinks will (eventually) kick out all of the carbonation. I suppose you could do it carbed, but it would go flat over time. How much time depends on the initial carbonation, the temperature, etc.

My feeling is, if you went through the trouble to carbonate, use it another way. Winter warmers are better non-carbonated (but that is only my opinion).

I served the Apfelgrog to my neighbor who spent several years in Germany, and he said that it took him RIGHT back there. It's exactly the flavor he remembers from some apfelwein-based drinks that he had served hot in the winter. Well done, all you awesome recipe-formulators! All I did was follow directions; I'm definitely having one of those "standing on the shoulders of giants" moments.

I heart HBT!

I'm going to save this one for the right night.

I am thinking on the next snow fall I'll make 1L of this up, toss it in my thermos and have a seat outside, watching the snow fall.

Looking forward to it already...

Just went through another 4 liters of this tonight with 20 or so people (although this was only one of about 17 drink choices). This time I set the crock pot on warm at 9am and left it with the spices all day long at ~145*. It was SMOOOOOOOOOTH by 7pm. Even better than last time. I highly recommend giving it a lot of time to mull, especially if you have relatively young Apfelwein (less than 3 or 4 months).

Also, as other have said, keep the temperature well below 170* or you will lose all of your alcohol.

Been a year and I made it again. Used 1/4 cup spiced rum this time and used 10 pcs of whole allspice instead of the clove/cinnamon. It was delicious!

I wonder if this could be cooled, bottled & aged.

Hmm, I bet it could. Want to make sure all the yeasties are dead though so they don't start munching on the extra sugar.

Gremlyn1 said:

Been a year and I made it again. Used 1/4 cup spiced rum this time and used 10 pcs of whole allspice instead of the clove/cinnamon. It was delicious!

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Thinking about it, I could probably have upped the allspice. Maybe double?

Gremlyn1 said:

Hmm, I bet it could. Want to make sure all the yeasties are dead though so they don't start munching on the extra sugar.

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If you're cooking it for 9 hours at 145 you probably don't have much to worry about from the yeast.

Have to be careful with the temps lest you evaporate all the ethanol...