How To Make Mulled Wine
By Chris Denny

Mulled wine has been enjoyed by Europeans for centuries and Americans have barely been introduced to it. Tales of good times had trickle to The States from overseas travelers and after a friendly host shares his mulled wine, the imbiber is a convert to the hot spicy goodness. Here's a recipe and a little history.

First, it should be said that mulled wine goes by multiple names depending on where you are drinking it or where the recipe came from. You might see any of them around and not recognize it for it is. I think this is actually part of the reason the hot spicy drink has not caught on in the US - people are a little confused. Here are some of the names you might see and the countries/language the name comes from:

vin chaud - France


vin fiert - Romania


glogg - Sweden


gluhwein - Germany, Austria, Switzerland


...there are others

Mulled wine has a long history going as far back as 500 BC when spices and herbs were added to wine for health reasons and probably also to improve the flavor of wine that had gone bad. Recipes have been varied but the main idea was also the same - hot spiced wine.

Here is a mulled wine recipe

*note - the recipe is referred to as 'Sweet Gluhwein Recipe'*

Ingredients

1 750ml sweet red table wine

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp honey

1 tsp crystallized lemon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp whole cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick (broken)

Directions

Put broken cinnamon stick and whole cloves into a tea ball and hang into kettle. Pour wine into a kettle and add remaining ingredients. Heat (do not boil) for 30 minutes. Serve warm. Total time to make is about 35 to 40 minutes.

That is a very tasty recipe that will make 4 to 5 servings. Now, if you want a super easy way to make mulled wine then get a bottle of mulled wine mix which involves only three steps:

1. Heat Wine


2. Pour a Tablespoon of Mix into Wine


3. Stir

That process is even a little stretched out since you usually pour and stir at the same time. *semantics* The total time to make is about 10 minutes. Remember not to boil the wine when you heat it as boiling releases the alcohol and maybe a little of the fun, depending on your view about such things.

Whichever way you decide to make mulled wine, whatever recipe you use, and whatever you call it make sure to enjoy it with friends. One of the most intriguing things about mulled wine is its innate ability to bring people together.

Chris Denny owns and operates Gluhwein.Net with his wife to spread the fun of mulled wine across the United States. They certainly don't do it for the money.

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