Carrageenan Free Hot Honey-Cinnamon Apple Cider
Warm, spiced, and deeply comforting, this hot apple cider is the kind of drink that makes you want to curl up by a window on a cold afternoon. Fresh apple cider gets gently simmered with whole cloves, sliced ginger, and Ceylon cinnamon sticks — a softer, more nuanced variety than the standard cassia — before honey is stirred in for a floral, golden sweetness. Many store-bought spiced ciders and flavored drinks sneak in thickeners and stabilizers that can be hard to spot on a label, so making your own from scratch puts you fully in control of every single ingredient. Ceylon cinnamon shows up twice here, once as whole sticks during the simmer and again as ground spice stirred in with the honey, which layers the flavor beautifully without overwhelming the apple. The slow, gentle heat is key — keeping the cider just below a boil preserves the bright, fresh character of the juice and lets the spices bloom without turning bitter. A fine-mesh strainer catches all the solids at the end, leaving you with a silky, clear cup that looks just as good as it tastes. Finish it with a few thin apple slices and an extra cinnamon stick, and it's practically a centerpiece.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 4 cups fresh apple cider (not apple juice)
- 2 ceylon cinnamon sticks
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 tbsp honey, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
For serving
- 1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced, for serving (optional)
- 4 ceylon cinnamon sticks, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the apple cider, Ceylon cinnamon sticks, sliced ginger, and whole cloves in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Warm, stirring occasionally, until the cider just begins to steam and small bubbles form around the edges, about 8–10 minutes — do not let it boil.
- 2
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the honey and ground Ceylon cinnamon. Continue to heat gently for 10 minutes, until the cider is fragrant and the honey is fully dissolved.
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