Woodlarkers' Fire Cider

Fire cider is a traditional kitchen remedy made by infusing roots, herbs and spice in raw apple cider vinegar. It’s taken in small doses to support digestion, circulation and immune resilience, particularly during winter.

It’s sharp, warming and deliberately strong.

Fire Cider, made in a 2-litre Kilner jar

Fire cider is one of those old kitchen remedies that sits somewhere between the hedge and the kitchen cupboard. Sharp as fook when it's brewed properly and if you swig too much it lets you know that you're alive.. I make mine in a 2 litre Kilner jar, because it’s practical, easy to scale, and suits the way we actually cook here.

Fire cider isn’t a fixed recipe. It’s adaptable and forgiving. What matters is good ingredients, patience, and making sure everything stays submerged.

Ingredients: (for a 2 litre Kilner jar)

Think in handfuls and chunks, not precision.

Roots & base.

250–300 g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced.

250–300 g fresh horseradish, grated or finely chopped.

10–12 cloves garlic, roughly chopped.

1 medium onion, sliced (optional, but traditional and potent)

Herbs and spices.

3–4 sprigs of rosemary.

6–8 sprigs of thyme.

3 whole cinnamon sticks.

1 tablespoon of whole peppercorns.

1 fresh chilli or jalapeño, sliced (or more if you like real heat)

Citrus.

1 lemon, sliced.

1 orange or grapefruit, sliced.

Liquids.

Raw apple cider vinegar, enough to completely cover everything in the jar.

300–400 ml of raw honey, added after straining (to taste)

Method:

Prepare the ingredients.

Wash, peel, slice and chop. Nothing needs to be neat, just opened up so the vinegar can do its work. I leave mine quite chunky.

Fill the jar.

Add all the solid ingredients to your 2 litre Kilner jar. Pack them in firmly but don’t crush them. You want the jar mostly full of solids.

Cover with vinegar.

Pour over the apple cider vinegar until everything is fully submerged. This is important, anything sticking out of the liquid can go funky.

Seal and store.

Close the jar, label it with the date, and put it somewhere cool and dark.

Leave it for at least 4 weeks, giving it a gentle shake every few days.

Strain.

Once it smells properly fierce and medicinal, strain out the solids through a sieve or muslin. You can just leave everything in the jar and pour when you need too. It's up to you though really.

Sweeten.

Stir in raw honey to taste. I usually add around 200ml for a 2 litre batch, enough to take the edge off without dulling the fire. You'll know what I mean about fire when you taste it after it's infused for a while!

Bottle and keep.

Decant into clean bottles. Store in the fridge or a cool cupboard. It will keep for months. Again though, you can just keep it in the main kilner jar. Just be sure to remove anything that sits above the vinegar line when you use it. For the brave amongst you, you can eat what you take out.

How I use it:

Daily tonic: 1 to 2 tablespoons straight. It'll put hairs on you where you never thought hair could grow. And help keep you healthy.

-Woodlarking