James and Michael's Colonial Applejack: A Drink for the Holidays

Besides rum, do you know what else the old New Englanders loved to drink? Cider! They had tons of apples, and cider was one of the cheapest drinks they could ferment.

And quite by accident, due to the cold, cold winters, the process known as "ice distillation" was discovered, which transforms apple cider into a drink called applejack. Last year my buddy James and I attempted to recreate this super simple process. Today, I'm going to share my third holiday drink with you.

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How to make Homemade Applejack

Applejack couldn't be simpler to make. All you need is a few bottles of cider and a freezer.

Ingredients

Cider. That's literally it.

However, you can add cinnamon and spices to taste, and it would be tasty hot or mulled!

Directions

Ice distilling isn't really distilling. In fact, it really just means freezing an alcoholic beverage to concentrate it. To make applejack, start by emptying a few bottles of hard cider into some empty plastic water bottles (leave room at the top, because the cider will expand as it freezes), and place it in your freezer overnight.

The next morning, allow the alcohol to drain out of the ice (the water part will freeze, but the alcohol will not, as alcohol has a much lower freezing temperature). Repeat this process two or three times until the applejack is as strong as you want it to be (or until the liquid no longer freezes). We froze and drained our applejack three times, and concentrated one 6-pack of cider into a single jar.

The result is a cider-based drink that is really strong and has a very strong apple flavor. It's good, but be careful not to drink too much; since it's concentrated, one glass is the equivalent of a few bottles of cider.