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In the midst of winter, in the long dark and cold evening, a warm and rosy cheer is brought about by a nice hot mulled wine shared amongst a group of friends or neighbors. The really great thing with mulled wine is it tends to be better with rough dark red wines. The trick is to heat the wine with the spices and make sure you do not boil the mixture. Boiling will drive off most of the alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water. If you have thermometer then keep the temperature at no more than say 60C (140F). Serve in hot glasses to conserve the heat.
If you have an open fire then you can try the classical method of heating
mulled wine. Many moons ago in ancient Britain they produced "mulling irons"
specifically to heat your ale or wine. You heat your iron in the fire. Tap the
heated iron to remove any ash or scale and the dip the iron into your wine. This
not only warms the drink but also imparts a ferrous taste.
(Clearly be careful with hot irons! This was done in times when there was no
such thing as health and safety.)
2 Bottles of Red wine (a rough dark red is best)
Country wines with plenty of tannin do well. Bilberry, damson,
blackberry, black plum and blackcurrant. Why the rough wines do better than
the good ones when mulling wines I'll never know but its a fortunate fact,
and its the destiny for my elderberry wine.
2 Bottles of robust red wine
Four small oranges
1 Large lemon
Brown Sugar (or 2 table spoons of Honey)
12 Cloves
2 sticks of Cinnamon (Each 3 inches long)
(Aniseed & Fennel optional)
1) Grate the peal from one of the oranges into a pan and squeeze its juice into cup.
2) Grate the peel from the lemon into the pan ,and squeeze its juice into the cup.
3) Take three small oranges and insert 4 cloves into each and put the three small oranges into the pan
4) Add the Cinnamon sticks. (and optionally other spices such as Aniseed & Fennel)
5) Pour the two bottles of red wine into the pan and warm to about 60C (140F) (DO NOT BOIL).
6) Add the orange juice & lemon juice into the pan after the wine has been warmed.
7) Add sugar or honey to taste, stirring while adding.
SERVE (If possible use warmed gasses)
(If you would like to do this using an open fire whilst your muffins are
toasting then do steps 1 - 7 and only warm the wine (say 40 - 50 C)
Then each guest dips the heated iron poker into their drink to raise the
temperature and to impart a slight ferrous taste. Always tap the poker first and trust
that your poker is not toxic.
This should overcome the winter cold and provide jollity and good cheer.
Four simple mulled wine, GLÜHWEIN, recipes are in the latest YoBrew magazine.
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