What do you associate mulled wine with? I associate it with warmth, coziness, the aroma of spices, citrus, and red wine. With the onset of cold weather, and especially during the New Year and Christmas holidays, I want to be home more, create comfort, cook something tasty and warming.
The first recipes for mulled wine date back to ancient Rome, but then the wine was mixed with spices without heating. In a warm climate there was no point in raising the temperature. The drink became especially popular in the Scandinavian countries of medieval Europe, where the spicy warm wine was served at Christmas fairs and brewed at home. The classic recipe for mulled wine is based on red dry wine, but semi-dry wine is often used as well. You can experiment with spices to your liking, adding something new each time. For my taste, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, star anise, and definitely add slices of apple and orange are enough. And the spices are better to take not ground, they do not always dissolve completely in the warm wine.
It is not necessary to reheat the drink, it is better to make more fresh mulled wine, because making this fragrant warm drink at home is not difficult. Mulled wine is suitable for a noisy party with friends, and for a cozy family evening.
Ingredients (2 servings)
- Dry red wine 400 ml
- Sugar 2 tbsp.
- Orange 0.5 pc.
- Pepper 5 pots.
- Dried cardamom 3 pcs.
- Star anise 1 pc.
- Dried cloves by buds 2 pcs.
- Apple 0.5 pc.
Instructions
The flavor and aroma of the mulled wine comes from the spices. It is better not to take them in crushed form, because even after straining the finished drink small particles will certainly fall into the cup, it will not be very pleasant. It is better to break the cinnamon stick with a knife into large pieces, and lightly grind the rest of the spices in a mortar. In stores there are ready-made spice kits for making mulled wine, but I think they have a lot of unnecessary “garbage” and the flavor turns out “not what you need”.
Pour the spices in a thick-bottomed saucepan and pour the red, dry wine.
Put the saucepan on the lowest heat. The wine should not come to a boil, just warmed up and saturated with aroma of spices.
While the wine begins to heat, half an orange (enough for 2 servings of mulled wine) cut into small pieces. Do not peel the orange, the zest will not only give even more orange flavor to the drink, but also keep the citrus slices from falling apart into fibers.
Next, slice half of the apple randomly.
Add the orange and apple slices to the spiced wine.
Add sugar. The amount of sugar depends on the type of wine and your taste. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Leave the drink to simmer over medium heat, cover with a lid if available. Keep an eye on the process. The mulled wine should not boil over.
The temperature of the finished drink is about 80 degrees, I have a saucepan lid with a temperature indicator. If you don’t have one, or if you didn’t put the lid on at all, the reference point is when you see steam, you can turn off the heat. Cover with the lid and let the drink steep for 10-15 minutes.
Strain the mulled wine through a fine sieve. Pour into cups.
From the specified volume of wine you get two servings of a ready, fragrant, homemade drink. It should be drunk hot, not heated. Enjoy mulled wine in the company of a loved one, feel the warmth and comfort of home.
Enjoy the mulled wine!
