David's Mulled Cider

My friend David had some good suggestions on how to modify my mulled cider recipe, so, I decided to give some of his suggestions a whirl and came up with this variation. This one is based off of apple pie spices as opposed to the citrus notes of my recipe. While I am partial to my variation, this is a tasty traditional.

Ingredients:

1 lemon
1 apple
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 t of whole cloves

½ t of whole allspice berries

¼ t of fresh grated nutmeg

½ gal of apple cider

Directions:

Slice up the lemon and apple, again discarding the end pieces since flavor extraction of the pith will just make the whole brew bitter. Since I don't have an orange to put them in this time, I wrapped my smaller spices in a bit of cheese cloth that I tied up with butchers twine to make a spice bag, but a tied up coffee filter would work just as well, I just don't have any.

Place all of the ingredients in a  slow cooker and steep on low for 2.5-3 hrs stirring occasionally. I steep mine until the cinnamon sticks are flexible so I know there has been plenty of flavor extracted.

Once the cider has been thoroughly spiced, remove all the solids and discard, trust me, they don't taste good anymore. Strain the cider though a fine mesh strainer to remove any sediments and pulp. Though the spices were in a bag, you still want to make sure you get out any lemon seeds, pulp, or apple seeds. Serve hot or cold, and enjoy! For the adults in the room, this one will also taste really good with a splash of cinnamon whiskey.