Recipe(tried): Honey Mead

Hello everyone,
Here is something I make every October for Halloween, but bottle enough for the rest of the winter. My family and friends love it so much that we usually make it for gifts. It is a honey wine that tastes like apple pie! You can also omit the alcohol to make a wonderful cider for the kids.

2 gallons water
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. allspice
10 whole cloves
A sprig of saffron
5 pounds of honey
2 tblsp. rosewater
24 oz. apple juice
2 apples
2 oranges
2 lemons
4 c. Vodka

Put all of your spices, except the cloves, in a cheese cloth bag, so that they are easier to fish out when you bottle the mead. Take the cloves and stick the sprigs into the apples. Slice the other fruit. Bring the water to a boil with the bag of spices. Add the honey until it is dissolved, then add the apple juice. Cover the pot and boil for 15 minutes. Now add your fruit and boil for another 30-45 minutes. (it is ready when the fruit starts to seperate from the rind.) Add the vodka. Chill. Once the mixture has chilled, it can be strained and bottled. This can be served the day it is made, but tastes great after 6 months of aging. The Vodka takes the place of yeast in the fermentation process, so it does not have to be racked or the bottles depressurized. Also there will be sediment in the bottles. We shake them before serving to let the spices infuse the mead. The cider must be served within 2 weeks, but the mead will stay forever bottled. Tastes lovely chilled, but divine heated!
Enjoy!