Apple Pie Experiement - Day One

This aint your gramma's pastry I'm talkin' about. Oh, no.. no.. no...

If your a fan of grain alcohol, you might just like this. After tasting some of this applicious drink a few months ago, I decided I needed to make some for myself. But since I didn't have the recipe, I looked it up online. That brought up many versions, though. So what I did, was combine them into one. My first batch was made yesterday. Here's the recipe I used:

1 Gallon apple cider
1 Gallon apple juice
2 1/2 cups sugar
7 (3") cinnamon sticks
2 1/2 cups grain

Combine all ingredients, except grain, in large pot (I actually used our Nesco Roaster). Heat til sugar disolves. Most recipes say to bring to a boil, but Mike & I decided it wasn't necessary.. lol! Then let cool COMPLETELY! If you don't, the heat will evaporate the alcohol. And grain is SO not cheap - so don't waste it by thinking it's 'cool enough' - be SURE! What I did to hurry the process along, was float ice packs in it.. my mom's idea! Worked like a charm! You could also use ice cubes in a ziplock bag.. after it's cooled a bit first. Don't want to melt the plastic! I read that the longer you leave the cinnamon sticks in, the stronger the cinnamon gets. I took mine out after it was completely cooled. I tasted it before I put the alcohol in, even though, of course, it would taste totally different when cold. It did taste a bit sweet, but pretty much tasted like cider. Time for the grain! It was added.. stirred, tasted, stirred, tasted... WOW! Strooooooooong. But to see how different it would taste iced, I put some in the freezer. It was still sweet, but I drank it, anyways.. lol! Then this morning, I sipped it again, and it sorta mellowed out. Nice! This might work, after all! Tonight after work, I tried it again - even better. I guess the flavors just had to sit & mix for a bit. I'll see how much better it tastes tomorrow. It *is* only a bit over 24 hours old.