Raw Chilli Cinnamon Sack Cyser
Under a blanket in my office there is a cardboard box with around 8 litres of cinnamon cyser at sack strength. That is, the mead weighs in above 14% ABV (alcohol by volume). It’s been made with quite a bit of cinnamon at primary fermentation in apple juice and a high volume of honey. To be honest, this cyser is a little too sweet for my taste, but some people really enjoy a glass – smooth, voluptuous and decadent.
I recently purchased a handful of small red chilli peppers. The tiny ones. They got a quick dunk in sodium metabisulphite (just in case) and were let to dry for ten minutes beside the sink while I removed a small quantity of liquid from one of the cyser bottles.
I dropped into that bottle around eight of these small chillis with the stem end removed. This allowed cyser to flow inside the chilli cavities.
Then I put the bottle back into that old cardboard box for a week.
WOW. I can tell you as a fan of raw chilli there is a romance happening between me and that sack cyser. Raw chilli punch in buckets; aroma in spades. This is a dangerous liaison that I call the Cyser Chillianado.
But you have to be a raw chilli lover. And I take no responsibility if you follow my example – fools dare to tread where fools have previously partied. All I know is my current temptation is to drop a dozen little chilli peppers into all those sack cysers and leave them until Christmas.
We have our Christmas in the Australian sunshine – serve over ice with lime juice and maybe even a little hard liquor. Total magic. Perhaps between nicely chilled beers.
