Mulled Wine – The ultimate holiday and winter drink.
Ahh the holidays! It is officially the season of family, friends, presents, lights, trees, and maybe some very cold weather, in our case right now some wet weather. Regardless, unless you are lucky enough to live in Hawaii it’s colder which means sweaters, scarves, hats, and maybe some skiing! We all have family traditions around the holidays and they can vary between special types of foods, gift exchanges, trips, religious celebrations, and countless others. For me and my family one of our traditions is Glögg, a mulled wine with Scandanavia roots- my great grandfather and grandmother were both from Sweden and we have ancestry back to the Vikings!
So what is mulled wine? Mulled wine is a wine based beverage that is prepared and served warm with a mix of winter spices. No wonder the Scandanavia people drank this, it is perfect for a freezing cold day and it definitely hits the spot to warm you up!
Some might think that serving a warm wine beverage is weird but hey don’t judge it till you try it! There are tons of different recipes out there. Everyone I know has their own preferred recipe with slightly different blend of wine, liquer, sweeteners, and use of different spices. I am going to give you my delicious Glögg recipe but get creative! Love a certain spice that I didn’t use? Add it in! I highly encourage everyone to at least try my recipe and share it with your friends and family, no one will be disappointed and can make your time together even more memorable. One thing my husband and I do each year is make a batch of glögg and when it’s ready we start decorating for Christmas. What other way to get into the holiday spirit with some little extra spirits. haha
The basics of glögg are Red Wine- I will recommend using the cheaper stuff for this one. While I am not endorsing two buck chuck, you definitely do not need to pull out your finest red wine for this- an average priced or anything below $10 will work, varietals that are popular are Cabernet Sauvigon, Merlot, or Syrah. Blends are great too! Basically anything you have lying around the house will work. Glögg is also great for getting rid of those wines that you don’t like, maybe you bought a bottle by mistake or one was a gift from Grandma that just does not suit your palate. Glögg is great for that!!
Now that we got our red wine it is time to fortify it! Traditionally this was done with straight liqueur- this helped preserve the wine and the extra strenght of the alcohol also increases the warm feeling inside your chest haha. While I have followed recipes that require Aquavit and Vodka I prefer Brandy. Brandy by itself is a perfect warming winter drink and as a fortifier for glögg is it perfect.
Red wine check, fortifier check, know typically to make the drink a bit more palatable you will want a sweetener. What was traditionally used was honey, which is what I would also use except with all the wines and drinks that we have readily available today I have found an alternative that I love even more, Port wine! Port is a fortified wine from Portugal and is made sweet and strong in style. Port is usually served as a dessert wine. While traditional Port is delicious it can be pricey. There are many other producers here in the States that produce a Port styled wine which will work very well for our purposes here.
Those are the beverages that I use and now for the spices. The spices are so important to any mulled wine recipe. It is the spices that are the remedy for a cold winter day. For me it is the smell of the spices that bring back all the memories of holidays and family gatherings as well. While I encourage everyone to experiment and include spices they like I do have one warning for you- it is easy to overdue the spices and overwhelm the wine, start small and work your way up. Also as with all soups, stews, and chilies, Glögg gets better over time. Don’t feel pressured to finish it all in one day. A well made glögg will be even better the second day as the spices have had more time to integrate with the flavors of the wine. Spices I use in my recipe include cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, whole allspice, and ground nutmeg. Another popular spice for glögg is anise but I find that even a little anise overpowers the flavor for me so I choose to skip it, however I know lots of people like it. Oh and one of the most important spices that I highly recommend is fresh orange peel! I cannot have my glögg without it. We will usually put in a whole orange peel directly into the mix, this adds the little citrus zest that makes it perfect. Wanting to experiment with other citrus? Go for it but the one time I used a lemon we needed to add more honey to counter the sour/bitterness of the lemon peel.
Now that you have all your ingredients putting them together is easy! I prefer to use a crockpot but you can also prepare it on the stovetop. Just make sure you cook on a super low heat. You never want to glögg to boil as you will start to boil off the alcohol. I will first add all my beverages to crockpot, red wine, port wine, and brandy. Then I will add my spices and orange peel – see below for recommended amounts. I will usually put crockpot on Warm for 4 hours- it is slow but will ensure the alcohol does not burn off. If you are a little impatient, like I tend to be, put the Glögg on Low for 1 hour, then return to Warm Setting. If preparing for a party I like to make it a day ahead- Glögg is always better the next day. I will keep the glögg on Warm for 12-14 hours and let it cool overnight. Next day I will transfer the wine into the wine bottles that I emptied – use a funnel! Usually at this point I will remove all the solid spices and orange peel, it is not entirely necessary but better then swallowing a clove haha. If going to a party I will also bring the crockpot with me for serving. It is absolutely necessary that the glögg be served very warm.
For serving you will want to use coffee mugs or tea cups. This is a high alcohol beverage so portions are less than your typical glass of wine. Depending on whom you are serving I would generally serve a 3-4 oz serving. Oh and as you drink your glögg you will find some little surprise for you in the bottom of the cup. Brandy soaked raisins! I will also serve slivered almonds if I have any of those laying around. The raisins are delicious and get better with every additional serving of glögg that gets poured into your mug. Helpful hint for the raisins, get them soaking before you make the glögg, the longer they soak the better! Easy to prepare, I fill a smaller size mason jar with raisins and make sure to completely cover them with brandy. Before pouring glögg into glass you will add teaspoon portion 5-10 raisins into the cup, also feel free to add slivered almonds at this point. At this point spoon yourself a warm mug of glögg, sit back, relax, sip, savor, and enjoy your holiday and the winter season!
Glögg Ingredients
- 750 mL (one standard bottle) Red Wine – Cabernet Sauvigon, Merlot, Syrah, Blends work great!
- 750 mL (one standard bottle) Port Wine (Port style wine is suitable alternative)
- 750 mL Brandy
- 1-2 Cinnamon sticks
- 1 Tbsp Whole Allspice
- 1.5 Tbsp Whole Cloves
- 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1 Cup Brandy Soaked Raisins
Directions
Pour all wine, port wine, and brandy into Crockpot or 3-4 qt sauce pan. Add all spices and orange peel to the wine mixture. Turn on Crockpot low for 1 hour then Warm for 3. If using stove top keep on low setting for 2-3 hours. Note- Do Not Let Glögg Boil. Once the entire beverage is very warm through it is ready to serve. Add 1 Tbsp of brandy soaked raisins to a tea cup or coffee mug, add one ladle worth of Glögg to mug. Serve immediately.