If I Could Only Drink One Tipple For The Rest Of My Life It Would Be This: a blog about mulled wine.
Mulled wine is, for me, the essence of winter. A glass of this, in front of an open fire, on a snowy Christmas Eve, and all is right with the world. The warmth spreading through your chest is as comforting as an old friend’s hug. This is why I have poured so much time and effort into finding the perfect recipe for mulled wine. Not only do I like drinking it myself, but it’s also a great way to impress guests!
You will find many different recipes for making mulled wine out there on the Internet. Some people use cloves, other people use cinnamon, some use cranberries whilst others prefer oranges. I like to keep things simple and just stick with cinnamon and cloves. But how much should you use? After much experimentation I have concluded that the best ratio is one and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon to five whole cloves.
“If I Could Only Drink One Tipple For The Rest Of My Life It Would Be This: a blog about mulled wine.”
There are many variations on this drink, but the core is always the same. And that core is:
Red wine.
Spices.
Heat.
That’s it! That’s mulled wine in a nutshell.
I’m not going to give you an exact recipe, as there are so many ways to do it and its one of those things that’s best done by intuition anyway. The general principle is to add spices and heat to wine until it tastes nice, then serve hot.
Mulled wine is by far the finest drink known to man. I would love to see a study comparing the number of hours spent on drinking mulled wine with those spent drinking all other beverages and foodstuffs put together. I’d be surprised if it was less than 97 percent; more likely 99.7 percent, for not only is mulled wine delicious and warming, but it is also very quick and easy to prepare, making it ideal for a life lived entirely indoors in front of a computer screen.
The recipe I use varies slightly depending on my mood, and the quantity of mulled wine I intend to consume, but here are some rough guidelines:
– 1 bottle of red wine (I tend to use cheapish Spanish stuff like Rioja)
– 2 cinnamon sticks
– 5 cloves
– 3 pieces of star anise
– 4 cardamom pods
OPTIONAL ADDITIONS (for when you want to make your mulled wine that much more special):
– A teaspoon of ground nutmeg
– 6 slices of lemon peel
Mulled wine is a hot spiced beverage served over the winter months, especially popular during Christmas and New Year. It is generally made with red wine, heated and flavoured with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and other spices, but sometimes white wine or cider is used instead.
Heat gently, stirring occasionally – do not boil.
Remove from the heat and add sugar to taste (sorry for being vague about this – it’s because I’m lazy and can’t be bothered measuring accurately). You may wish to add slices of orange or lemon at this stage also. Serve in mugs or heatproof glasses.
Most people seem to use port, often in combination with red wine. This is a great idea if you like port but I find it too sweet when drunk warmish. Some people also add brandy to their mulled wine – I’ve never tried this but suspect that the alcohol content might be a bit high!
It’s that time of year again. Mulled wine time, the only time of year where I am actually allowed to drink mulled wine. And I don’t know about you, but here at Mulled Wine HQ we are lapping it up.
Mulled wine is a great beverage for many reasons. It’s warming, it’s comforting, and it gets you drunk. But there are also a lot of people out there who don’t know what mulled wine is! Can you believe that? Well, that’s why I’ve decided to write this section on mulled wine and tell you all about what it is and why I love it so much.
What is mulled wine? Mulled wine is red wine that has been heated up with spices and sugar in a big pot. The spices can include cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods and star anise. The sugar can be honey or maple syrup or regular old white sugar. You can also add orange zest and apple slices to the mix if you’re feeling fancy (or if you’re one of those people who doesn’t like drinking straight alcohol but still wants to get tipsy).
How do you make mulled wine? Making mulled wine is very easy! It takes just
Mulled wine is the perfect winter drink – it’s warm, fruity and has a good amount of alcohol in it. The beauty of mulled wine is that it can be made in a variety of ways. Some people like to simmer the wine with orange slices and cloves while others prefer to use orange juice and cinnamon. I usually make my own mulled wine by mixing red wine with orange slices, cloves, cinnamon sticks and brown sugar. Once the mixture is heated up, I leave it to cool down before transferring it into a bottle and letting it steep for around ten days. The longer you leave it to steep the better your mulled wine will taste. If you want to make the process quicker, you can add some brandy or rum to your mix which will speed up the infusion process.
Mulled wine is an alcoholic beverage made with red wine, sugar and spices. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas, but can be enjoyed year-round as well. It is also a very popular drink in the UK.
The history of mulled wine dates back to Roman times. The Romans used to heat their wine before drinking it, and they even came up with a recipe for it: “Take pine kernels, raisins, moistened boat bread, honey, pepper and liquamen (fish sauce) and boil together; when done take out the kernels and raisins and put in reduced must” (from Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria).
The first use of the word “mulled” was in 1621 in Gervase Markham’s book The English Huswife. Markham described a mulled drink as “a cup of wine with sugar, nutmeg and some slices of orange or lemon”. This recipe was used until the 19th century when new spices such as clove and cinnamon were added to it.
