Tonight is the start of the season for sugar overload. What to do? Spicy apple cider soda! A perfectly healthy drink that will satisfy your sweet tooth with a variety of delicious and healthy super spices including cinnamon and ginger.
While I love homemade Hot Apple Cider, I find that this naturally sweet, cold cider drink is a festive alternative to the customary hot cider beverage. And since you’ll still be mulling your cider on the stove to make this soda, your house will reap the wonderfully smelling aroma.
We all need a good nutritional boost during the holiday season when we are inundated with junk food and an abundance of sweets. I find that if I have something sweet to sip on it is easier for me to avoid the dietary pitfalls that leave me lagging.
Apple Cider Soda
Ingredients
- 1 quart organic apple juice
- 1 orange, sliced (leave peel on)
- 5 cinnamon sticks
- 1 finger length ginger, sliced (leave skin on)
- 2 quarts sparkling water
- ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine apple juice, orange slices, cinnamon and ginger in a medium pot and bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
- Remove cider from stove and cool for 10 minutes
- Fill a tall glass with ice
- Pour ½ cup sparkling water into glass over ice
- Pour ¼ cup apple cider into glass
- Serve
Equipment
Spices can be superfoods and cinnamon is no exception. Cinnamon is a sweet and warming spice that is good for controlling blood sugar; it is also thought to boost brain function and improve colon health. Further, it has antimicrobial properties.
Ginger is spicy and pungent. I like to cook with fresh ginger and also use it in the homemade teas that I brew on the stove top (when the boys are coming down with a cold I make then Ginger Licorice Tea). Ginger has warming properties that make it an effective aid in digestion. It is also anti-inflammatory and immune boosting.
Cinnamon and ginger are two of my favorite spices –they are both healing, flavorful and delicious.
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Here’s hoping that this sweet drink with warming herbal properties helps to satisfy our sweet cravings during this holiday season. What strategies will you use to stay in balance during the holidays?
Kirstin says
Can’t wait to try this!
EA says
:)
Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving says
This looks so refreshing. I’ll give it a go using mineral water.
Amanda says
I loved this recipe and included it in an apple cider round up on my blog. Thanks for making and sharing this, it sounds fabulous! If you’d like to see the round up it’s here http://amandascookin.com/2012/10/30-apple-cider-recipes-for-fall.html
Healthy Juicer says
I try to steer my kids away from the typical sugary sodas so I went out and bought a Sodastream. This was the first recipe I tried with it and everyone loved it. To give it a little sweetness I added a touch of agave. It made the house smell good too. I’m going to serve this on Christmas as well.
Meg says
Thank you for this recipe! It was delicious. I used tangerines instead of oranges and it turned out fine.
jen says
Sipping down a tasty cup of this right now. Not too sweet and super refreshing. ;)
Caroline says
I just got a Sodastream for my birthday so I’ll definitely be trying this. I love the flavor of apple cider, but I don’t drink many sweet beverages so it always seems too sugary. My trick of diluting juices to make them lighter doesn’t work so well with cider, but sparkling water will turn it into something special. :)
Sara says
I made this,and…it was so delicious! It had a depth of flavor that I wasn’t expecting, a nice riff on plain apple juice. I was surprised that the orange peel did not make it bitter.
Sharon Schrader says
I just made this apple cider soda last night and it’s awesome! I think I like apple cider soda better than hot apple cider.
Tonya says
Elana,
You are a genius. I have ordered your almond flour cookbook and stalk your site daily. Everything I have made has been delicious. I know when I use your recipes I am not wasting expensive ingredients on something that will not turn out as expected. Thank you for your time and energy you put into bringing us wonderful gluten and dairy free and low GI recipes.