Apple Cider Bourbon Punch

Bourbon, apple cider, and spices — John Adams reportedly drank hard cider every morning, two colonial American traditions combined in a seasonal punch.

Apple Cider Bourbon Punch is an American autumn tradition that bridges two of the country's most historically important beverages. Apple cider — the freshly pressed, unfermented juice of apples — has been central to American drink culture since the colonial period, when apple trees were among the first orchard crops established by English settlers and fermented hard cider was consumed more widely than water in many regions. John Adams, the second President of the United States, reportedly drank a tankard of hard cider every morning before breakfast and lived to the age of 90. Bourbon whiskey, distilled in Kentucky from a mash of at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak barrels per federal regulations codified in 1897 and clarified in 1964, has been produced in the Bluegrass State since the late 18th century. The combination of fresh apple cider with bourbon is one of the most naturally coherent flavor pairings in American drinks: the apple's tartness and fresh fruit sweetness are softened by the cider's natural sugars and given warmth and complexity by the bourbon's vanilla, caramel, and spice from barrel aging. Cinnamon, cloves, and star anise — the spices associated with American fall baking traditions — amplify both the apple and the whiskey in ways that make the punch taste like it has always existed as a seasonal ritual, which in the cultural sense it has.