Do you ever have a difficult time deciding what kind of wine to serve with Thanksgiving dinner? Of course you do….more than half of your guests like red wine and we all know white wine is the appropriate wine to serve with fowl. Should it be a strong Malbec or Cabernet? Or perhaps a Pinot Noir or Zinfandel? And what white wine should you serve? Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc? Well you can see it’s really a conundrum, so I suggest you stick to Apple Cider.
Apple Cider, the traditional Autumn harvest drink, is the perfect non-alcoholic beverage to accompany your Thanksgiving feast. I see these cocktails being served before dinner because I think the traditional Thanksgiving meal is on the sweet side. I try to keep the sweetness to a minimum; No marshmallows on my sweet potatoes, even my cranberry sauce is tart; I make it with grated ginger and sherry vinegar.
Which one of these cider concoctions will you be serving this year?
1. Cider & Pomegranate Margaritas: Coarse salt, 1/2 oz. simple syrup, 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice, 2 oz. tequila, 2 oz. pomegranate juice, 4 oz. apple cider. Dip the rim of the glass in water, then in the salt. Combine all ingredients and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, strain.
2. Citrusy Cider Scotch & Lavender: 1 sprig fresh lavnder, lemon wedge, 1/2 oz. simple syrup, 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice, 2 oz. scotch, 4 oz. apple cider. Combine main ingredients and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously. Garnish with the lemon wedge and lavender.
3. Cider Dark & Stormy: lime wedge, 4 oz. ginger beer, 1/4 oz. fresh lime juice, 2 oz. dark rum, 2 oz. apple cider. Combine the cider, rum, and lime juice in an ice-filled glass. Top with the ginger beer. Garnish with the lime wedge.
Don’t Forget the Mint Sprig
4. Gingery Cider with Tequila: 1 spring mint, 1 small piece sliced fresh ginger, 1 strip lemon zest, 1 TBS fresh mint leaves, 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp agave, 2 oz. tequila, 4 oz apple cider. Muddle mint leaves, ginger, lemon zest and agave in a cocktail shaker. Add cider, tequila, and ice. Shake vigorously. Strain over crushed ice and serve with the mint sprig.
5. Cider Shandy: 1 orange slice, 6 oz. lager, 6 oz. apple cider. Combine the lager and cider. Serve with an orange slice.
6. Smoke & Spice Cider: 1 sprig mint, 3 slices jalpeno, 1 TBS fresh mint leaves, 1/4 oz. simple syrup, 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice, 2 oz. mescal, 4 oz. apple cider. Muddle the mint leaves and jalapeno in a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously and pour into the glass. Serve with the mint sprig.
Cider Bellini
7. Cider Bellini: 1 spring fresh rosemary, sparkling wine like Prosecco, 1/2 oz. apple cider. Pour the cider into a champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine. Serve with the rosemary sprig.
8. Fall Cider Sangria: 1 sliced apple, 1 sliced pear, 1 sliced orange, 8 oz, apple brandy, 1 bottle white wine, 32 oz. apple cider. Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Chill at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
9. Spiked Cider Tea: 2 thin lemon slices, 1 black tea bag, 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, 2 oz. gin, 8 oz. apple cider. Bring the cider and vanilla to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bag; steep 3 minutes. Remove tea bag and stir in the gin. Serve with a lemon slice.
10. Rum & Pineapple Punch: 1/2 sliced fresh pineapple, 1 oz. fresh orange juice, 1 oz. simple syrup, 1 1/2 oz. lemon juice, 2 oz. brandy, 4 oz. rum, 16 oz. apple cider. Combine the pineapple, cider, rum, brandy, lemon juice, simple syrup, and orange juice in a punch bowl. Chill at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
Pbenjay's Blog 
Cider Bellini please.
My Thanksgiving (Canadian) is where it should be, in October. Having Thanksgiving where you Americans have it totally destroys the sanctity of the holiday. It turns Thanksgiving into what I call, Thanksgetting. It turns a harvest holiday, designed to humbly give thanks for what you have, into merely the kickoff to another holiday that worships orgiastic, mindless, consumption.
And my drink of choice? Anything with alcohol in it. The higher the percent, the better.
My my aren’t you all “het up” as they say in the lower 48. There’s plenty of harvest vegetables still around and remember we are a big country with varied temperate zones. As far as a kick off to the “other holiday”, you shouldn’t just make across the board generalizations – well you can but seriously it’s kind of not up to your usual more intellectual observations. My family gives thanks and we would no more go shopping on Black Friday than we would on Easter Sunday! Furthermore, neither my husband or I ever purchase gifts in a Mall. Yes there are people who have totally commercialized Christmas and they will stampede into big box stores at midnight on Thanksgiving but they don’t write this blog and probably don’t read it either. Now having said that Sedate Me, I am often amused by your rants and you are entitled to your own opinions but please don’t use my blog for making statements that are so broad-stroked that you know by now from reading this blog, they don’t apply here. I would wish you a bountiful Thanksgiving but I guess you’ve already had that. Now I’m going to post a recipe for a nice Autumnal salad, do you cook?