Dark Winter Mead (Easy!) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

5 liters mineral water (you can get these big bottles in supermarkets)
3 big oranges
30 g raisins
1 1/2 kg honey
10 g dry yeast
250 g dark muscovado sugar
2 star anise (whole)
2 teaspoons cloves (whole)
3 tablespoons dried orange peel
2 sticks cinnamon (whole)
2 teaspoons cardamom (whole)

Preparation

TO START: Take your bottle of spring water a make room for the ingredients by pouring about 1/3 of the water into a separate container. Don't throw this away.
Chop the oranges and add to the water along with the raisins, yeast and honey. If the honey is too thick to pour then soften it in either a hot water bath or the microwave if the jar has no metal on it and will fit!
Fill the bottle to top with the left over spring water.
Put the top onto the bottle and shake for a few minutes to get it going.
You now need to get a rubber balloon and place it over the top in place of the bottle lid. You will need to pierce it a few times to allow gases to escape but to keep stuff from getting into it. Perfect!
Right, now leave this alone for FOUR MONTHS. It will need to be placed in a nice warm, dark, dry place such as the airing cupboard or laundry room.
Don't be tempted to take the balloon off to see how it's doing - you need to leave it uncontaminated!
So four months have passed (or longer if you can bear it! 6 months is ideal) and now you must strain the mead and add the syrup. It's nearly ready for drinking!
To make the syrup heat the dark sugar over a low heat with about 50ml of water - the sugar dissolves easily.
Add the whole spices and stir. Let this bubble away gently for a good 30 mins to release the delicious flavours of the spices.
Meanwhile you will need to strain the mead. Use a sieve first to get rid of the lumps and oranges and then strain it again using coffee filter paper. Return it to its original bottle.
When the syrup has cooled, add it to the mead.
Cover it back up with the balloon and leave to settle for a week or so.
DRINK AND ENJOY. BE CAREFUL - THE ALCOHOL CONTENT IS UNKNOWN!