Hot Drinks for the Holidays — Part II — Hot Apple Drink (Vegan)

How about some practically calorie-free apple pie? This tasty Hot Apple Drink is a perfect warmer on any chilly day. It tastes especially fantastic after spending some time in the cold open air. Just prepare the drink beforehand and heat it to achieve the immediate warmth and comfort. Add more spices for even more flavors!

 

 

 

Hot Apple Drink (Vegan) Makes 4 servings 1 medium sour organic apple (like Granny Smith), not peeled, but sliced and seeds removed 1 organic cinnamon stick 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) piece organic ginger, thinly sliced 4 cups = 950 ml boiling water 2–3 tablespoons Confectioner’s Style Swerve OR other sweetener to taste   Directions Place all ingredients in a heatproof pitcher or teapot. Let steep for an hour. Warm again until hot, then strain out the apple, cinnamon and ginger. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

I wanted to keep this drink relatively mild and not too sweet, that’s why I recommend to use maximum 3 tablespoons Swerve. You can naturally use any sweetener you prefer, but here Swerve works well because it doesn’t really give any aftertaste.

When I wrote my “Healthy Drink Recipes” book last spring, I made plenty of infused water experiments. All the recipes in the book are for cold drinks, however I also tried hot apple drink which was close to this one. During these chilly winter days I fine-tuned the drink recipe until I reached the flavor I wanted. The trickiest part was the ginger — I just tend to use it too much and thus it overpowers easily other flavors. The apple and cinnamon give quite subtle flavor, so you have to be careful not to use too much strong ginger.

I prefer this drink with just cinnamon and some ginger, however feel free to use some additional spices if you like. I tried one version with a sliced vanilla bean, and it indeed was a nice experiment, though a slightly too sugary to my taste especially when I added some sweetener.

All the apple pie spices go great with this drink. Use for example cloves, cardamom, nutmeg or a tiny amount of lemon peel. It’s easy to tweak the drink to match your preferences!

Below is a photo of a really simple drink where I have used just apple, cinnamon and hot water. The drink was perfect as such, without any sweeteners. I posted the recipe on my Facebook page.