Warm Drinks for Cold Days – Part 1

As much of the East and South is seeing record cold temperatures, lots of us are looking for warm ways to get the fluid intake we need every day. I usually drink a good bit of water and iced tea. But this is not exactly iced tea weather!

So, I did a little research and uncovered some really enticing warm drinks for cold days!

One of my all-time favorites is spiced cider. First up is my Easy Spiced Cider:

Easy Spiced Cider

Source: Sondra Lyn at Home.com

This is my recipe for Easy Spiced Cider:

• 1/2 gal apple cider or juice
• 1/2 gal cranberry juice
• 1 pkg. red hot candies

Heat about 1-2 cups of cider in a pyrex measuring cup to boiling. Add red hots and stir till melted. Pour into gallon container: all of cider, most of cranberry juice, melted hots+cider. Fill with remaining juice to top. Heat in a big pot or by the cupful- on demand!

And this just sounds fabulous for an after dinner sweet treat:

Apple Pie Spiced Cider

Source: Martha Stewart.com

The recipe for Apple Pie Spiced Cider:

• 1 1/4 quarts apple cider
• 3 tablespoons firmly packed light-brown sugar
• 7 whole cinnamon sticks, (6 sticks for garnish)
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cider, sugar, spices, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from heat; strain into a pitcher; discard solids. Serve in mugs, garnished with cinnamon sticks.

Spiced Pomegranate-Apple Cider

Source: BHG.com

Spiced Pomegranate-Apple Cider

• 1- 64 oz. pasteurized apple cider or apple juice
• 2- 16 ounce bottles pomegranate juice or 4 cups cranberry juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or packed brown sugar
• 6- fresh kumquats, halved, or 6 3×1-inch thin orange peel strips
• 16- inches stick cinnamon, broken
• 12- cardamom pods, lightly crushed to expose seeds
• 12- whole cloves
• Thinly sliced apple, fresh kumquats and/or cinnamon sticks (optional)

In a large Dutch oven or kettle, combine cider, pomegranate or cranberry juice, and maple syrup or brown sugar. For spice bag, cut a double thickness of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth into a 12-inch square. Place the halved kumquats or orange peel, 16 inches stick cinnamon, cardamom pods, and cloves in center of cloth. Bring the corners of cloth together and tie closed with clean kitchen string. Add spice bag to cider mixture. Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove spice bag and discard. To serve, ladle cider into mugs. If desired, garnish with additional sliced apple, kumquats and/or cinnamon sticks.

Of course, any focus on hot drinks has to include hot tea! A close cousin to the spiced ciders, hot teas often include fruit juices.

Mulled Raspberry Tea

Source: BHG.com

Recipe from BHG.com:

• 1 cup frozen loose-pack raspberries, slightly thawed
• 2 cups brewed tea
• 2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
• 1 cup prepared lemonade
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 whole allspice
• Sugar (optional)
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• Fresh or frozen raspberries (optional for garnish)

In a 2- or 3-quart saucepan slightly mash raspberries with potato masher. Stir in tea, cranberry-raspberry juice, lemonade, water, and allspice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain and discard fruit pulp and spices. Ladle into heat-proof glass mugs or cups. Sweeten with sugar, if desired. Serve with lemon slices and additional raspberries, if desired. Makes 6 servings.

Spiced Black Tea

Source: BHG.com

Recipe for Spiced Black Tea from BHG.com:

• 7 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 3-inch stick cinnamon
• 1 star anise (optional)
• 4 black tea bags
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Lemon slices (optional)
• Cinnamon sticks (optional)

In large saucepan combine water, sugar, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and star anise. Bring to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and strain. Return mixture to saucepan. Add tea bags. Steep 10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in pomegranate juice and lemon juice. Return to heat; heat through. Serve with lemon slices and cinnamon sticks. Makes 8 (1-cup) servings.

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Wow, don’t these sound awesome? This round-up was getting very long, so I decided to split it into 2 parts. Don’t miss the next one, which features coffee and hot chocolate favorites! Yum!!

P.S.