Thanksgiving 2012: Gin Apple Cider

A recipe from The Bitten Word

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Have a cocktail!

This is our final Thanksgiving preview recipe.  We've told you the biggest Thanksgiving trends, cataloged all the recipes from this year's food magazines, and walked you through the 20 or so recipes we tried out ourselves.

Now it's time for a drink.

This Gin Apple Cider is a wonderful way to kick off your Thanksgiving dinner -- or any fall meal or party. (Don't serve them throughout the meal, though -- they're deceptively strong!) We're used to cocktails that pair apple cider with bourbon or rum, but gin brings a refreshing, unexpected kick with its notes of citrus and juniper. 

Make things easy on yourself: Stir up a couple pitchers of these ahead of time. Then let your T-Day guests help themselves when they walk in. (We served these with long strips of orange peel for garnish, but we neglected to snap a photo of that. There's a very nice photo of the finished drink in the slideshow from our profile in last week's Washington Post.) 

Give yourself a moment to step away from the hot kitchen. Join your guests as they're milling around before dinnertime. Pour a round of Gin Apple Ciders, raise your glasses, and toast to another wonderful Thanksgiving -- and another wonderful year of good food.

 

 

Gin and Apple Cider
A recipe from The Bitten Word

1 or more servings

INGREDIENTS

Ice
1 part gin
3 parts unsweetened apple cider
1 dash orange bitters per serving
Orange peel, cut into long spirals, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add the gin, cider and bitters, and stir. Garnish with the orange peel.

For a group, mix the gin and apple cider in pitchers, then let guests add their own bitters and garnish.