Enjoying hot mulled wine around Christmas when the weather is chilly and spirits are high is as comforting as it gets. This simple holiday drink, spiced up with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, orange, and star anise, is a holiday must. A traditional winter cocktail that will warm you up from head to toe!
Wherever you may be and whatever time of year it is, nothing compares to sitting on the couch with a hot mug of something good in your hand. And if it is the holidays, spiced wine delivers a fantastic cocktail that’s easy to whip up and big in flavor!
Which Wine Is Best for Spiced Wine
I add apple cider and sugar to mine, so a robust dry wine, like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, tempranillo, and syrah, works wonderfully. If you want to skip the cider and sugar, a semi-dry zinfandel, grenache, pinot noir, and malbec are suitable choices.
However, single-source grape wines can be a little pricey. For spiced wines, blends are just as good and are usually a lot cheaper. While nothing can hide a bad wine, we are going to heat it and flavor it with spices. So there’s absolutely no need to get the best wine out there (aka most expensive).
How to Make Mulled Wine
- Combine the apple cider, wine, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange slices, juices, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and star anise in a medium saucepan.
- Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Not long enough to cook all the alcohol out, just enough time to allow flavors to meld together.
- Serve hot, garnished with orange peels and cinnamon sticks.
Make Ahead Instructions
Strain and cool the finished beverage and store it in a glass jar for a day or two. Heat gently in a saucepan when ready to serve, being careful not to let it boil.
Another way to make it ahead without losing alcohol is to simmer the sugar and spices with enough water to make a spiced simple syrup. A 2:1 sugar:water simple syrup should last a week or two in the fridge. Gently heat the apple cider and wine with the simple syrup until heated through, and enjoy.
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By Imma
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