The Saturday before Thanksgiving is the last market of the season for my farmer’s market, so in addition to picking up our turkey, it’s my last chance for squash, apples, and cider from Kuhn Orchards. Since it was my last chance, I grabbed a quart of cider and justified it by saying it would be good to have to offer our guests on Thanksgiving.

We didn’t open it on Thanksgiving — I don’t think I even offered it — and it sat in the fridge for a week or so after that. As we enjoyed our leftovers and the fridge returned to something more like its normal state, I realized I needed to use the cider before it started to ferment. Seemed like the perfect time to make the Apple Cider Old-Fashioned from Smitten Kitchen Keepers (also on Deb’s Instagram Reels).

I didn’t have pie spice on hand, so I just used some ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, a couple of whole cloves, and the innards of a few cardamom pods. I’m not sure how long it took to cook the cider down, but it was an easy, hands-off process. I puttered around the kitchen doing other stuff and gave things a stir every so often.

Once it started to get down to something close to the amount called for, I paid more attention so I could catch it before it cooked down too much. I strained it directly into a mason jar and let it cool, then added the bitters and bourbon straight into the jar, capped it, and gave it a shake. I chilled it in the fridge and we enjoyed it over a nice big ice cube later that night.

As you can guess this is a fairly sweet cocktail, but one that you can rebalance a bit as needed with a little more bourbon, or water down with some crushed ice. There’s something really nice about having a bottled cocktail ready to go in your home bar; it’s like your past self is showing your present self the hospitality you normally show your guests.

This has kept well in the fridge, but it doesn’t make a huge batch so I don’t think you’ll have it around for long anyway.