ashmanra

The oils in orange peel can be bitter, yes. Also, if you used a lot of the white pith, that will add bitterness. This may not help, but I had a chai hot toddy while on vacation. It was chai tea with a cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, two spirals of very thin lemon and orange peels and of course rum and tuaca. :) Perhaps using a vegetable peeler to get the peel would help. I may be completely wrong, here, but I think I have also read where the squeezing of the peel releases more of the bitter oil? Maybe get your peel off before squeezing the juice?

I think you are right. I did squeeze it and then toss it in the pot. I thought I had some orange extract but when I took the bottle down from the shelf it was empty. I should have used orange zest or just some orange juice concentrate. I wonder what it would be like with brown sugar?

Just wondering aloud…could you start with an apple juice or cider base, then add your tea and spices?

Maybe! I have never made mulled anything so perhaps I should start there. I wish I had thought of just adding the cinnamon dolce syrup I made a while back. That probably would have been tasty.