Fire cider is the combinations of citrus, onion, ginger and garlic mixed in vinegar. When you taste it you will definitely feel the fiery kick it gives. It’s like pickle juice, habaneros and kombucha had a baby. Think spicy kimchi. I for one, am a HUGE fan of all things vinegar and pickles and spicy so this is right up my alley! Given the desperate need to keep our immune system at an all time high, this recipe is great to make and store so you have it on hand. I got the sickest I’ve ever been in February and I was taking shots of this every few hours. It turned out to be a sickness that kept circling back and involved all the nastiest symptoms which my friend is convinced was Covid-19. Either way, I’m healthy now and I’m still sippin’ on this sauce.

I wanted to share this recipe because I talked about it on my Instagram story and so many people have asked me for it since. I made my first batch a couple months ago and it was super easy! The hard part is waiting a month to try it! I’m not sure where I first heard about fire cider but it isn’t new. Given that I’ve started making my own health tinctures, fire cider was something I was keen to try as soon as I was committed to staying somewhere for more than a month, so I gave it a go! We take a shot of it every morning to stay healthy and love adding it to pastas and use as a marinade. In this recipe I go CRAZY with the spices so if you’re looking for a milder or sweeter version definitely chill with the peppers and add more honey.

This is what you’ll need:

1 gallon or 3 liters of RAW, unfiltered apple cider vinegar

Horseradish

Ginger- 1 average size

Garlic- 2 cloves

Onions- 1/2

Jalapeños or Habaneros to taste

Turmeric (powder if not fresh)

3 limes

3 lemons

Orange if desired

Black Pepper corns

Cayenne Pepper- 1 or 2 TBSP depending on desired spice level

Locally sourced honey!

This will make about 1.5-2 liters depending on how thick you want to make it.

Start by taking all of vegetables and put them through a food processor after cleaning throughly! For the citrus fruits- put peel and everything into the food processor! Seeds and peels have incredible nutrients! Just make sure they’re clean! To clean I use water and a bit of apple cider vinegar to soak the vegetables before I begin the recipe.

After that use roughly 1 liter of apple cider vinegar, and add in your vegetable pulp, cayenne pepper, black pepper and honey. Remember, have fun with it! I took the recipe super lightly the first time I did it and added more than what was recommended. Some people strain their pulp out after the month but I disagree, I love the flavor of the pulp and it’s great to add to salsas for some extra kick!

Once you have made your fire cider, you want to store it in GLASS jars. Also, since it needs to sit in a DARK space (cupboard) for 1 month or more, I’d place paper or fabric in between the metal lid and the glass jar- fire cider has a tendency to do some rust damage to the roof of the can, and you don’t want that in your cider so make use something as a barrier. Just steer clear of plastic and stick to glass and metal lids for all fire cider. Once a week, take your fire cider out and give it a light shake to move the liquid around. Otherwise keep it hidden. I covered mine in the corner for a month! Try to keep it out of the light. Afterwards you can move it into the fridge to keep it fresh longer! Have fun with it and be sure to send me some photos if you decide to make you’re own!