[pappasni]

Okay, so I have been brewing hard ciders for a few years now, and have become extremely comfortable with the general makings of it, it's now time to experiment.  I want to spice things up a bit, like add some holiday flavor to the cider, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. But unfortunately I can't find anything that gives a ratio of liquid to spices, to fine tune this I make about 3 gallons each brew.  Now, should I steep the spices in the initial liquid or add them to the carboy? Need a little help here

[brewinhard]

You could soak them in some hard liquor (vodka, rum, everclear, etc) and then strain out the tincture to separate the spices from the liquor (coffee filter works well, but slow). You could then pour yourself a small sample of your cider and add drops (medicine dropper or pipette) back to the glass until you achieve the desired effect (flavor and aroma you are looking for). Then scale up your tincture addition to your full batch size (3 gallons).

[erockrph]

When I want to add other ingredients to my ciders (usually fruit), I usually add a similar amount as I would to beer and then adjust from there. For cranberries, I use one 12oz bag per gallon. Blackberries are about 1.5 lb/gallon in my butter zone.

I haven't used spices for cider specifically, but I think that is one instance where I'd actually heat my juice for a cider - with cinnamon in particular. When used on the cold side or in a vodka tincture, cinnamon seems to come across a bit hotter (like red hots candy) to me. When heated (mulled cider, apple pie, etc.), it seems to emphasize the sweet spiciness a bit more.

[romunda_murphy]

What about using mulled cider recipe for a guideline

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[chinaski]

You could soak them in some hard liquor (vodka, rum, everclear, etc) and then strain out the tincture to separate the spices from the liquor (coffee filter works well, but slow). You could then pour yourself a small sample of your cider and add drops (medicine dropper or pipette) back to the glass until you achieve the desired effect (flavor and aroma you are looking for). Then scale up your tincture addition to your full batch size (3 gallons).

+1

This is the best way to go.  Spices can easily get out of hand if you aren't careful.  I use this method on beer recipes and it works.