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Cider on the porch, season on your terms

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1Start with apples you'd actually eat

Cider is just apples with ambition. Any mix works, but sweet apples alone go flat and tart alone goes sharp, so use both. Orchards sell bruised seconds cheap, and bruised apples make better cider than pretty ones. Ask for cider apples if they have them. If they don't, half Gala and half Granny Smith is a fine start.

2The blender method for people without a press

Chop apples, blitz them in a blender with a little water, then strain the mash through cheesecloth or a clean pillowcase and squeeze. That's it. You'll get maybe a quart per bag of apples and your arms will know about it. Real presses do it faster, but the blender method costs nothing you don't already own.

3Spices, and when to add them

Cinnamon sticks, a few whole cloves, one orange sliced thick. Add them after you strain, while the cider warms on the stove, not during. Simmered spices turn bitter by hour two, and nobody wants mulled regret. Twenty minutes of gentle heat is enough. Taste it, adjust, and stop fiddling before you ruin a good thing.

4The crockpot does the porch work

Fill a crockpot with cider, toss in the spices, set it low, and carry the whole thing out to a porch table with a ladle and mugs. It stays warm through the whole afternoon and the smell does half your decorating for you. Refill it once and you've hosted the neighborhood without standing up.

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5Spike it or don't, both are correct

A splash of bourbon or spiced rum turns cider into an evening. A splash of sparkling water turns it into something the kids can fight over fairly. Ginger beer splits the difference. Make the big pot plain and let people fix their own cups, because the person ladling shouldn't also be the bartender.

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