Drinks / Fire Cider

We're beyond the fourth of July, and that means summer has officially arrived in the Berkshires. I know we've been wearing our winter sweaters lately, but the warm weather has returned again, hopefully for at least a few months! And that means it's time to celebrate outside, preferably with your favorite people. The following recipe is a refreshing, healthy and hydrating drink that can be made with or without the addition of alcohol. I know so many people who, for one reason or the other, do not imbibe. And let's be honest, drinking plain club soda at every social gathering can bet a bit boring! Try making this drink, a few pints at a time or in large batches for big groups. This way, you have a base of slightly sweet and tangy citrus soda, that everyone, even the kids, can enjoy. Simply add tequila or rum to an individual glass for a customized adult beverage. If only it were this easy to make everyone happy, all the time. Cheers to summer!

Makes 2 pint-sized drinks and is easy to scale up for larger groups.

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh squeezed ruby red grapefruit (about 1 large grapefruit)

1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime)

1-2 tablespoons of raw honey, or more for a sweeter drink

1 ounce Fire Cider African Bronze or raw apple cider vinegar

soda water

ice

Method:

First, juice the grapefruit. I got about one cup from one large grapefruit.

Then, juice the lime again. One lime gave one ounce of juice, pretty handy!

I mixed 1 tablespoon of raw, African Bronze Honey into the lime juice. This honey has a strong floral, very sweet and slightly smoky flavor. I think that orange blossom honey would also mix really well with the other flavors. Use more honey for a sweeter drink. Mix until the honey is completely dissolved in the lime juice.

Combine the lime, honey and grapefruit and stir well.

Add ice to two pint glasses.

Split the juice and honey mixture between the two glasses.

Add ½ ounce of Fire Cider African Bronze, or plain Apple Cider Vinegar, to each glass.

Top each glass off with soda water (club soda) and stir gently.

Optional:

Add an ounce of tequila or white rum to each glass.

Salt the rim of each pint glass before adding the ingredients.

Garnish with a lime or grapefruit wedge and enjoy!

It's nearly the weekend, and we've got three cocktails fresh from Boston to get things started! All three of these strong and smoky cocktails were created by Apollo Clark, you can follow him on twitter @apolloclark 

The Boston Cigar

1.5 oz. Old Overholt rye whiskey

3/4 oz. Tobacco liquor

1/3 oz. Fire Cider

cherry, lime slice 

Photo by @ApolloClark on Twitter

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Pour into a rocks glass, with a few rocks. Add cherry and lime slice and serve.

Tastes like a good cigar, probably goes well with one too.  

Spicy Manhattan

1.5 oz. Old Overholt rye whiskey

3/4 oz. Carpano Antica

1/3 oz. Fire Cider

3 dash orange bitters

cherry

Combine all ingredients and stir well. Pour into a rocks glass, with a few rocks, or none at all. Add a cherry and serve.

Photo of Smoky Nail on Fire by @ApolloClark on Twitter

Smoky Nail on Fire

1.5 oz. Islay scotch

1.5 oz. Drambuie

1 oz. Fire Cider

Stir to combine in a rocks glass with a few large rocks. 

There has been a nasty cold going around the Berkshires, and one by one, it has taken us out. First Dan, then Sean, Amy, and Dana. I blame Dan's kids for being cute but efficient plague carriers.

Anyway, we've been hitting the amped-up virgin Fire Cider hot toddys pretty hard over the last week- and I'm happy to say we've been feeling much better!

Ingredients:

• 1 -2 tablespoons of Fire Cider
• juice of 1/4 - 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey, raw, local honey is best
• a healthy dose of ginger (We use 1 tablespoon frozen ginger juice)
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, or 1 tablespoon diced fresh ginger works, too
• hot water or tea to fill your favorite mug

Warming and soothing.

Our full arsenal of anti-ick fighting home remedies includes Osha tincture, Echinacea tincture, oil of oregano (rub it on the bottom of your feet or get capsules), raw honey, Fire Cider, ginger juice, lemons, neti pot and of course, some Berkshire Bourbon for when you finally start to feel better!

Cheers!

Drinking vinegar for its myriad health benefits goes back to ancient Greece, no wait, even further, to 5000 BCE when Babylonians were using date palms to make vinegar. Warriors throughout history have used vinegar mixed with water for strength and energy. Vinegar drinks and vinegar tonics infused with herbs, roots, flowers, you name it, have been around for many centuries.

In New England farmers have been making a drink called 'switchel' to keep them hydrated and ward off heat stroke during the long, hot summer days:

"They drank a quenching beverage that functioned much like modern Gatorade: switchel, also called switzel or haymaker’s punch. It contained water, a sweetener—either molasses, maple syrup, honey or brown sugar—ginger, and cider vinegar. All the ingredients (except water) happen to be sources of potassium—an electrolyte. Molasses is especially high in potassium."

Apple Cider Vinegar is an incredibly medicinal food since it contains several different beneficial acids plus beta-carotene, amino acid, bone building minerals, enzymes, magnesium, potassium, pectin and tannins. No wonder humans have been using this super food since we figured out how to preserve apples in the form of vinegar! Here are my three favorite vinegar drinks, aka, switchels, to help keep you cool and healthy this summer:

Dana's Pomegranate Switchel

Ingredients to make one cup of Switchel concentrate:

• ¼ cup of Fire Cider
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger juice
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 1 tablespoon raw honey

Shake well to combine all ingredients.

Serve about 2-4 ounces of concentrate over ice, top with soda water to make a pint.

Store leftover Switchel mix in the refrigerator.

Citrus Switchel

Makes 2 servings-

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or Fire Cider
• juice from 1/2 a grapefruit
• 1 1/2 tablespoons, or more to taste, raw, local wildflower honey
• Soda water or plain water
• 2 lime wedges

Combine the first 3 ingredients and makes sure to dissolve all the honey.

Fill two pint glasses with ice and split the switchel mix between the glasses.

Top with soda water and garnish with a lime wedge.

Dr. Earl Mindell's Switchel,  from his book 'Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar' which is also where I got some of the information for this blog post.

Makes 2 servings:

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or Fire Cider
• 1 1/2 tablespoons black strap molasses
• 2 cups warmed water (to melt the molasses)

Combine and pour over ice.

This new twist on my favorite floral tea was sent to me by one of my favorite people, Noel Prophet aka Soul Prophet, as in, Soul Prophet and The Faithless Few whom some of you might know from the band Dredi.

I had so much fun dancing to Noel's music back when I worked with him and his band mates in the kitchen at Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox Massachusetts.

Noel and his Fire Cider, lookin' good!

Noel has already shared his Jafakin' Jerk Sauce Recipe, which is one of my favorites...so you know this has to be good!

For a Fierce Earl Grey Tea:

Brew a cup of Earl Grey. Add a little fresh squeezed lime juice, plus raw honey to taste. Noel recommends a lot!

Add two dashes or more of Fire Cider and stir to combine. Enjoy hot or cold. The Fire Cider really draws out the bergamot flavor nicely.  

This is fiyah for ya body, mind, and spirit!

My first choice for organic loose leaf Earl Grey tea.

One of our super fans on Facebook, Christy Stine from Shrewsbury MA, shared this fabulous cocktail recipe that was created by her favorite mixologist -who also happens to be her husband- Blaine Swift.

Christy told me that "When we have fresh chilies in the fridge (green or red, usually jalapeños or the long somewhat fleshy Chinese variety), Blaine will seed and slice them, muddle them a bit in the drink before shaking. Makes a terrific drink even terrificker! The smoked salt really puts this one in the 'crave' range, too. We buy our Fire Cider at the Chatham Berry Farm in NY but we'll have to make a trip to the Berkshires sometime!"  

We think you'll love this spicy, smoky tequila cocktail as much as we do. Cheers to Christy and Blaine, and spring and of course, the weekend!

La Chupacabra

Recipe By: Blaine Swift

Serving Size: 2

Smokey salted rim for a spicy tequila cocktail.

 Ingredients:

• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 4 ounces Tequila Reposado
• 4 ounces Fire Cider
• 2 ounces Orange Curacao
• smoked salt, for the rim- we met the owner of The Maine Sea Salt Company last weekend and LOVE his Apple Wood Smoked Sea Salt, it's amazing!

Apple wood smoked Maine Sea Salt is the BEST!

Directions:

Salt the rim of 2 rocks glasses with the smoked salt.

Combine all ingredients and shake well.

Serve on the rocks in the salted rimmed glasses. Cheers to you!

Let's start the weekend with a new, original cocktail recipe by Berkshire County resident and Fire Cider fan Paul Dodds. We think you'll love this cocktail as much as we do, happy weekend everyone!

Hornitos Tequila is a good start to a great cocktail.

Apples and Pears

• 3 parts Hornitos Añejo (or your favorite tequila)
• 3 parts Goya Pear Nectar
• 1 1/2 part Mathilde Poire Liqueur
• 1 part St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur
• 2 dashes Fee Bros. West Indian Orange Bitters (or your favorite Orange Bitters)
• 2 capfuls of Fire Cider (to taste really)
• Reed's Spiced Apple Brew - spicy ginger soda with real ginger-yum!

To make:

Add all ingredients (except Reeds Apple Brew) to shaker with ice and shake vigorously until foamy. 

Add 3 shots to a Low Ball glass with ice. 

Top with Reeds Apple Brew and gently swirl.

Garnish with Apple and Pear slices. Enjoy!

Garnish with a slice of pear, sip slowly and enjoy the extra sunlight this Sunday. If you make this cocktail, we'd love to see a photo. And remember, this Sunday we lose an hour of sleep but we gain an hour of sunlight!

Lambs wool, ready for mixing and drinking!

Those of you who get our monthly Fire Cider e-newsletter (sign up on our home page; it's really just a monthly discount cleverly disguised as news about Fire Cider!) know that we celebrated Dana's birthday early this month with a happy hour at our house. The kegorator Dana built this summer was perfect for serving a crowd!

I made bar snacks and also some Lamb's Wool, a hot drink my friend Kate always made at her holiday parties. This hot mulled cider gets it's wooly look from peeled, cored apples slowly cooked into soft, delicious clouds. Kate's family tradition has become one of my favorite hot drinks- the mulling spices add extra warmth, and the apples are delicious.

You can certainly enjoy this all ages beverage as is or add in the optional ingredients at the end to get the full warming effect! This recipe will yield about a gallon- we didn't have any leftovers!

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon apple cider, preferably from a local orchard that doesn't use chemicals!
• mulling spices to taste, we used: 2 whole star anise, 3 whole cinnamon sticks, 1 shy tablespoon dried orange peel, a few whole cloves, 5-8 whole allspice. You can throw them in loose or put them into a spice bag/tea bag first.
• about 5-6 peeled, cored apples

Optional:

• 16 oz bottle of Fire Cider
• 750 ml bottle of Bourbon or Whisky
• or...whatever you like to spike your cider with!

Method:

Peel and core the apples, leaving them as whole as possible. I peeled by hand, sliced each apple in half and scooped out the seeds and hard bits. A peeler/corer, the hand cranked kind, would be perfect here.

Add all the apple cider, mulling spices and apples to a large heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and let it go until the apples have really started to break down; they are about half way there in the picture. I left the lid on most of the way while they cooked, so just a little steam could get out.

You don't want to reduce your cider too much, or it will get thick. If that happens, just add more apple cider. When the apples are starting to break apart into wooly clouds, turn the heat to low and leave it there; it's ready to serve.

Grab a big mug and scoop in some cider and some apple pieces. Garnish with a fresh cinnamon stick.

Add a tablespoon or 3 of the Fire Cider and some Bourbon or Whisky to taste. Happy weekend!

Dana's kegorator filled with two homebrews and filtered soda water.