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JuicesAlcohol-freeHigh confidenceStandard, well-documented ingredient, though US/UK naming for 'cider' differs.

Apple Cider

Apple cider, in the US sense, is unfiltered, non-alcoholic apple juice, often lightly spiced with cinnamon or clove and served warm in cooler months. It is distinct from hard cider despite the shared name. It brings a rounder, more rustic apple sweetness than clarified apple juice.

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Common uses

  • lengthens built cocktails with spiced apple flavour
  • warmed as a base for autumnal cocktails

Buying & storage

A few days: Good for a few days refrigerated, then noticeably duller. Worth planning a second drink around rather than throwing away.

Storage: refrigerate and use within a week of opening

Before it goes

Use up apple cider

Ranked by how much of it each drink uses and how little else it needs — the ones at the top will not send you back to the shop.

Recipes

Cocktails containing this ingredient

Stand-in

Where apple cider is a recommended substitute

Recipes that name it as a swap for something else, with what it replaces.

Swap it

Possible substitutions