A fire pit in late October is a face-warm, back-cold experience, and the fix is a hot cup in your hands. Mulled cider that's been simmering on the cabin stove since dinner, a cocoa that isn't a packet, a hot toddy for the adults after the kids go in. None of it takes skill and all of it makes the night. Here are the three that work at a rental cabin.
Mulled cider: the one that scents the cabin
This is the October drink, and it's the easiest thing on the page. Pour a gallon of apple cider (the cloudy kind, from the farm stand or the Logan grocery) into the cabin's biggest pot. Add three or four cinnamon sticks, an orange cut into thick slices, a small handful of whole cloves, and, if you brought them, a couple of star anise and a few allspice berries. Bring it to a bare simmer — never a boil — and hold it there on the back burner for at least half an hour. That's it. It'll stay on low all evening, the whole cabin smells like October, and everyone fills a mug on the way out to the fire.
- To spike it: a shot of bourbon or dark rum in each mug, not in the pot, so the kids' version stays in the pot and the alcohol doesn't cook off.
- To go outside: a thermos. Cider in a thermos stays hot for two hours; cider in a mug is cold in ten minutes on a 38-degree night.
- Bring from home: the spices. Rental kitchens have salt. They do not have cinnamon sticks.
Cocoa that's actually good
The packet is fine at 11 p.m. when nobody cares. Earlier in the night, do it properly: in a saucepan, whisk together cocoa powder and sugar (about two tablespoons of each per two cups of milk) with a splash of the milk to make a paste, then whisk in the rest of the milk and heat gently until it steams. A pinch of salt. A drop of vanilla if you have it. Off the heat, and into the thermos. It's four minutes and it's the difference between cocoa and hot brown water. Marshmallows go in the mug at the fire, where the s'mores supplies already are; the s'mores guide covers the rest of that table.
The hot toddy
For the adults, after the fire's burned down to coals and the night has gone quiet. Per mug: a shot of bourbon or whiskey, a spoonful of honey, a good squeeze of lemon, and hot water to fill. Stir. A cinnamon stick if there's one left from the cider. It's a warming drink, not a strong one, and it's the correct thing to be holding while someone tells the story about the Moonville brakeman. Two is plenty; the hot tub is next and the steps down to it are wet.
Keeping drinks hot at the fire
| Method | Works? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thermos or insulated carafe | Best | Fill it in the kitchen, pour at the fire. Two hours hot. Bring two: one for cider, one for cocoa. |
| Insulated mugs with lids | Good | The camping kind. Keeps a drink warm long enough to finish it, and lids keep the ash out. |
| Pot on the fire grate | Sometimes | A cast-iron Dutch oven at the edge of the coals holds cider at a simmer. Watch it; a rolling boil turns cider bitter. Never set a pot on a leafy ground beside the pit. |
| Ceramic mug, open | No | Cold in ten minutes in late October. Fine for the sip on the way out. |
What to skip
- Glass at the fire. It breaks, and broken glass in a fire pit stays there for the next guest. Enamel or insulated metal.
- Anything that needs ice. Nobody wants it at 40 degrees, and the cabin's ice maker is slow.
- Boiling the cider. Simmer. Boiled cider goes sharp and the spices turn bitter.
- Too much bourbon before the hot tub. The steps are wet, the water is 102 degrees, and October nights in the tub are long. Pace it.
The shopping list
From home: cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, star anise, cocoa powder, vanilla, honey, a thermos or two, insulated mugs. From the Logan grocery or a farm stand: a gallon of cider, an orange, a lemon, milk, marshmallows. From wherever you buy it: the bourbon. The firewood, kindling, and starter are already stacked at the cabin if you texted us; the fire is the easy part.
The fire's the easy part
Seasoned hardwood, kindling, and a starter, stacked before you arrive. You bring the cider.
Text us to order →Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make mulled cider at a cabin?
Simmer a gallon of apple cider with three or four cinnamon sticks, a sliced orange, a small handful of whole cloves, and optionally star anise and allspice for at least 30 minutes on the lowest heat. Never boil it. Spike individual mugs with bourbon or dark rum so the pot stays family-friendly.
How do you keep drinks hot by a fire pit?
Fill a thermos or insulated carafe in the kitchen and pour at the fire; it stays hot for a couple of hours. Insulated lidded mugs keep each drink warm long enough to finish it. Open ceramic mugs go cold in about ten minutes on a late-October night.
What should I bring from home for fireside drinks at a rental cabin?
The spices (cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise), cocoa powder, vanilla, honey, and a thermos and insulated mugs. Rental kitchens have salt and a pot; they rarely have anything else. Buy cider, an orange, a lemon, milk, and marshmallows in Logan.