MAKES 4 FULL-SIZE COCKTAILS, OR 8 SHORT DRINKS
HARD CIDER IS AN historic American beverage in every way. At times, we drank nearly as much cider as we did water. It follows that we’ve also made mixed drinks with cider since before the Revolutionary War. I like to double the batch and serve it in a punch bowl. Try freezing a small block of ice with a few cinnamon sticks in a small bread pan the night before and use it to chill the drink as you ladle it out to your guests.
6 ounces aged rum
2 ounces Cinnamon Syrup (here)
2 ounces fresh lime juice
4 ounces non-alcoholic apple cider
8 dashes Angostura bitters
Ice cubes, plus a large block of ice
16 ounces hard or sparkling cider
1 apple, for garnish
1 whole nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
Combine the rum, syrup, and lime juice equally in 2 or 3 cocktail shakers; add ice cubes and shake briefly. Strain into a chilled punch bowl. Add the non-alcoholic apple cider and bitters, then the block of ice. Top the bowl with the hard cider.
Cut the apple into thin wedges, about ½ inch at their widest point; leave a small cut in the flesh of the apple slices so they can be slipped onto the rims of cocktail glasses.
To garnish, use a Microplane to grate a pinch of the whole nutmeg and cinnamon stick across the surface of the punch; garnish each individual glass of punch with an apple. Ladle the punch into the glasses.
MAKES 1 CUP
1 cup simple syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
Heat the simple syrup over low heat and steep with 2 cinnamon sticks. Let cool at room temperature for 2 hours. Store the syrup with the cinnamon sticks in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.