Mulled wine in English, ’vin brulé’ in Italian, and ’glögg’ in Swedish. They’re called different names, but they all have the same base ingredients, wine and spices. The kind of spice used differs, though, and some Swedes even put additional spirits on theirs, like cognac.
Regardless of the variation, mulled wines are served warm and are considered as the traditional winter drink. Every Christmas market in Stockholm has a kiosk selling mulled wines and there is always a group of people huddled around it, keeping themselves warm either by just holding the glass of warm wine in their hands or drinking it.
I always associate drinking mulled wine with social settings. I feel it’s something that is to be shared with other people, and everyone partaking of the tradition. It makes it even more special if everyone is sitting in front of the fireplace. Yep, I know, that is a cliché Christmas card cover :-). I cannot help it, that’s what I envision when I drink mulled wine 😉
One last thing to highlight before you give mulled wine a try. Even if you have a recipe, you still should tinker with it because there are some wines that are naturally sweeter, like Shirah. But I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you the obvious, keep tasting! 🙂
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 bottles red wine
- 150 grams honey
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 2 star anise
- 5 cloves
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 vanilla pod
Instructions
- Combine the honey, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and the peel of orange and lemon in a pot. Pour enough wine in the pot to cover the mixture.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Stir the mixture constantly until it becomes syrupy in consistency.
- Pour the rest of the wine and keep warm (do NOT boil again! Boiling will make the alcohol evaporate).
- Pour in cups or mugs to serve.
Notes
- Adapted from 'winepassitaly.it'.
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