Spiced Apple Wine

You will need

• Pure apple juice (carton, no preservative)4.5 L
• Cinnamon stick1
• Cloves4
• Root ginger, bruised20 g
• Cider or wine yeast1 sachet

Method

1. 1

   Sanitise. Warm a little of the apple juice with the cinnamon, cloves and bruised ginger for ten minutes to draw out the spice, then let it cool and strain out the spices.

2. 2

   Combine the spiced juice with the rest of the apple juice in the demijohn (leave headspace).

3. 3

   Take a reading — apple juice sits near 1.050, so this is a session-strength spiced wine without added sugar. Pitch the yeast.

4. 4

   Ferment out; the spice carries through gently.

5. 5

   Rack when clear and bottle.

6. 6

   Lovely warmed in winter; the spice is a light hand, not a mulling overload.