Mulled wine

A 75 cl bottle pours exactly six 12.5 cl glasses. So set the recipe to 6 servings and you’ll see exactly what you need. That’s 60 grams of sugar, 12 orange slices, the peel of half a lemon cut into strips, 3 cinnamon sticks, 6 cloves, and 3 star anise. Add half the orange to the pan and save the rest for the glasses. If you have twelve or eighteen guests, put two or three bottles on at once. Fill the pan no more than two-thirds full so you can stir without spilling. After twenty minutes, taste it to see if the spices can come out.

Choose a dry, fruity red wine with low tannins and not too much oak. Merlot, Grenache, Zweigelt, Dornfelder, or a simple Côtes du Rhône work well. Tannins taste stronger in warm wine, making it feel astringent. The vanilla and smoke from oak clash with the cinnamon. It doesn’t need to be expensive. Sugar and spices would mask the finesse of a good bottle anyway. The cheapest boxed wine, though, makes it taste thin and sour. You’ll be fine with a simple wine that you also enjoy without spices.

Around 70 degrees. Steaming hot, but not yet bubbling. Alcohol boils at 78 degrees, well before water does. Once the wine starts bubbling, the alcohol quickly evaporates and the wine tastes flat. Cloves and star anise also turn bitter if they steep for too long or get too hot. A cooking thermometer makes it easy. If you don’t have one, watch the edge of the pan. If little bubbles rise there, turn down the heat. Keep the lid on the pan to keep the alcohol and aroma where they belong.

Use whole spices. Ground cinnamon and cloves don’t dissolve. The wine turns cloudy, and a gritty layer settles at the bottom of your glass. Whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise are easy to remove after steeping. Or put them in a tea infuser beforehand. You can also use ready-made mulled wine spice bags, one per bottle, just like a tea bag. Cloves are the strongest spice of all, so use them sparingly. For more depth, add a slice of fresh ginger or half a vanilla pod.

To make it alcohol-free, use red grape juice instead of wine. Or use half grape juice and half strong rooibos tea to make it less sweet. Leave out the sugar, since grape juice is sweet enough already. The spices, orange, and method stay the same. This version can get a little hotter without alcohol, although the spices still turn bitter if you boil them. In Germany, it’s called Kinderpunsch, and you’ll find it next to the mulled wine at every Christmas market. Find more alcohol-free drinks in our mocktails.

Mulled wine and bishop’s wine are both warm red wine with spices. The difference lies in the flavor accents. Mulled wine comes from Germany, is drier and more spiced, and centers on cinnamon, cloves, and star anise with a little citrus. Bishop’s wine is the Dutch version for St. Nicholas’ Eve. It’s sweeter, with an orange studded with cloves, often a pinch of nutmeg, and no star anise. Scandinavian glögg is heavier, with raisins, almonds, and often a splash of stronger liquor. If you can make mulled wine, you can make all three. Low heat, whole spices, and never let it boil.