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October 17th,
2011
written by Loren

It is officially autumn here in the Tundra, and I’m loving it. You pretty much have to appreciate fall if you live in Minnesota because the winters are a test of will for even the hardiest of Scandanavian descendents. The spring is always wet and muddy as the piles of snow melt away, so if you’re no fan of fall then you’re pretty much stuck with just June, July and August. I was able to get out to a local Park last week and do some hiking and the crisp air and beautiful foliage really got me into the mood to enjoy fall and all it offers.

One of my favorite things about fall is the apple crop in Minnesota. Apples are one thing we do pretty damn well. The University of Minnesota has a long history of introducing new varieties of apples and they’re all pretty good. My favorites are definitely the Zestar and the Fireside apples for eating raw. And with all the apples coming ripe in early-mid fall, there is apple cider everywhere you look around here. I’m somewhat surprised that I’ve never before tried to make a drink with apple cider considering how much I fiddle around with making random cocktails, but no time like the present, right? I don’t have a whole lot of experience in making new cocktail recipes which can be recreated by others. so here goes the first try:

  • 2 shots of bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)
  • 2 shots of Apple Cider
  • 1/3-1/2 shot of fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp of REAL maple syrup
  • Dash of ground cinnamon
Combine everything in a shaker over ice, shake vigorously and pour in a cocktail glass or – if you’re like me and you’ve broken your cocktail glasses- use a schnifter or something else which looks fancy. My favorite part about this recipe is that the cinnamon, apple cider and maple syrup really impart a fall flavor to the drink but, because it’s shaken over ice, it’s still a refreshing beverage you can enjoy on a warm  afternoon if you’re experiencing a bit of Indian summer.

2 Comments

  1. Arthur
    10/17/2011

    Sounds like a great cocktail!
    .
    This morning I was gchating with a friend of mine who went apple picking this weekend and she game me a recipe to make cider at home in the slow cooker:
    .
    Slow cook a bag of cranberries, quartered apples, all spice, cloves, cinnamon sticks, water, half a bottle of agave for 10 hours. Strain all liquid from fruit. liquid back to cooker. Add more apples. Slow cook for 10 hours more.
    .
    I haven’t had it my self, but she says it’s pretty great. If plans work out, I might get to try it this weekend (with and without a little Maker’s).

  2. Loren
    10/17/2011

    Tyler recently came home from his grampas place with probably 50-60 pounds of apples which he made into cider using an actual cider press and it was a huge hassle. You have to cut up allll those apples (lots of repetitive cutting and boredom lead to almost stitches for Tyler), the cider press spills everywhere (leaving your kitchen sticky) and the end result doesn’t taste that much better than what you can buy from local orchards.

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