While the weather cools down, the leaves start to change colors, and the dads lose their voices over Sunday afternoon college football, every sixteen to twenty-three year old can only think about one thing: PUMPKIN SPICED LATTES. The craze of this drink and finding it in any possible form like ChapStick or scented candles leaves an old family drink out of the picture! Warm apple cider is a timeless drink that can heal any bad day, a case homesickness, or a failed midterm. It is a classic that has been forgotten and over shadowed by this overrated drink that is based on a big orange gourde. There are so many reasons that a steaming mug of apple cider made from an old family recipe are better than a six dollar drink from Starbucks that was overrated since 2015. I promise you.
Moving away from my hometown and living in a small cramped dorm for the first time, homesickness is on my mind daily. I’ve found myself thinking of all the little aspects of home that I overlooked when I was still in high school. One of those things was my mom’s apple cider. It is a simple drink that will never go out of style. Pumpkin spiced lattes don’t have any of these special meanings behind it! The combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice is an explosion of flavor in your mouth that I don’t think anyone’s brain can wrap around. Starbucks was smart for inventing it in 2015, but it should’ve stayed in 2015. A pumpkin isn’t something that should be put into a drink. Apple’s are fresh, sweet, when made into a drink, can brighten anyone’s day!
All I’m trying to say is that warm apple cider has been forgotten, and pumpkin spiced lattes are hogging the spotlight when it comes to fall drinks. And if you’ve never tried the drink I’m preaching to you about, please try it! I’ll even share my mom’s recipe with you that she uses every fall. Happy apple picking! :)
Here is my mom’s recipe for the best apple cider you’ll ever drink!
One gallon of cider:
2 cinnamon sticks
8 whole cloves
A dash of salt
½ tsp of ground nutmeg
- Combine and heat all the ingredients to a boil, and then simmer uncovered for around 15 minutes
- Also FYI, some people add alcohol to their warm cider!
Enjoy!