Pinnacle® Vodka is a paid sponsor of this post.
Happy November, friends! I’m so excited that the holiday entertaining season is upon us (my favorite time of year) and that many of you are requesting seasonal cocktails that are perfect for parties. I personally love warm cocktails for these colder months, but I don’t want to have to stand over the stove stirring up drinks when I’d rather be mingling with my guests. Hence why you will fall in love with this Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Cider Cocktail!
Aptly dubbed a “crocktail,” this drink is perfect for your Friendsgiving festivities, traditional Thanksgiving gatherings and all your fall parties. I really love the idea of throwing everything together and letting the slow cooker do all the work. We should be able to enjoy our parties, right? Absolutely! Thank you, crocktails!
Tips for Making Crock Pot Cocktails
- Double Duty Cocktails – The best part about slow cooker cocktails is that they work double time. They ensure cocktails are ready to go but also make any home smell amazing for the season. Depending on the cocktail, add spices such as cinnamon, peppercorns and star anise, to play with flavors and scents. Once guests arrive, they can also add ingredients as they please!
- Be Mindful of Ingredients – While it’s tempting to add all slow cooker ingredients in at the same time, there is such a thing as letting items cook for too long. Consider adding certain ingredients, such as award-winning Pinnacle® Original Vodka*, toward the end of the cooking process to ensure the spirit doesn’t get cooked out. Bitter flavors can also start to come out of certain ingredients – especially for lemons and oranges – so be sure to remove those ingredients from the batch once they become fragrant.
- Better In Bundles – If your crocktail recipe calls for using citrus peels or whole spices, like cloves or cinnamon sticks, bundle them up in cheesecloth so guests don’t get any unwanted fragments in their drink. Tea balls are also a great substitute for cheesecloths.
- Cold or Hot – Crocktail recipes are versatile and are also great when served cold, so consider serving it both ways. For cold concoctions, prep in a pitcher with ice for a chilled version so each guest can determine their preference for hot or cold.
Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Cider
Equipment
- crock pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups vodka
- 8 cups apple cider
- 1 cup caramel syrup
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Apples for garnish
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 3 hours. Garnish with sliced apples and a drizzle of caramel.
- Add lots of apple slices floating in your slow cooker for visual presentation and extra flavor.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
If you try out this Slow Cooker Apple Cider Cocktail, let me know! I’d love to see how you and your guests enjoyed it! And if you’re looking for another fall-themed cocktail, check out my Pumpkin White Russians here.
I want to make this for our family Fall Fest but I am not sure how to measure out the ingredients in parts ? What does 8parts mean? What is that measurement in cups format ?
I would also like to make this for a football get together but am not clear what a “part” is. I understand the parts need to be equal, but is a part a cup? A 1/2 cup? A 1/4 cup? Any guidance is greatly appreciated.
Ehhhhh…..can you help with “parts” measure on this recipe?
How much is 8 parts vodka and 8 parts of caramel? If I were to measure it….
I agree with the others- please clarify the ‘parts’. Using it as a measurement only works when all ingredients are measured in parts (everything else is in cups, tbs or tsp). I very much want to make this but is the recipe suggesting equal amounts vodka and caramel syrup??
I made this recipe for a fall party! Total success!!
Can you tell me and others exactly how much a part is? Thank you!
Hi Melissa! The recipe has been adjusted from parts to measurements.
Thank you so much!
Parts refer to the measurement…it could be cups, tablespoons, ounces or any other type of measurement you choose. Let’s say a salad dressing recipe calls for 2 parts oil and 1 part vinegar. … That means that the amount of oil will be double the amount of vinegar. It really depends on how much you ultimately what the recipe to yield, thus making the given recipe easier to adjust to taste, crowd size, etc.
The original recipe called for equal ‘parts’ caramel to vodka, which is excessive. Also this recipe is on a lot of Halloween drink lists, which means much of the traffic just need a quick recipe with exact measurements. We all understand to add more vodka if it’s needed.
We fixed this last night for our ‘Boos and Booze’ neighborhood beggar’s night and it was a big hit. Thanks for clarifying measurements and for posting the recipe.
Is the caramel syrup like what you put on ice cream Sunday’s or like the clear kind for coffee?
It’s the ice cream kind!