Mulled wine is a delicious seasonal treat that many of us look forward to during the colder months. Whether you are relaxing beside a roaring fire or enjoying your snow covered yard, mulled wine is the ultimate beverage that will keep you warm even on the coldest of nights.
 
When preparing your mulled wine, it’s always best to follow a classic recipe and then make slight changes according to your personal taste. The main ingredients use include cloves, cinnamon sticks, and citrus rind. Some enjoy adding vanilla pods, anise, and nutmeg but this is up to you. The important part is to avoid the powdered varieties and stick to the whole products. It’s a lot easier to strain them out once your wine is ready!
 
While mulled wine can be made with certain white wines, it is best made with a good red wine. When preparing the mixture, add your wine to the spices and allow to heat through at a low temperature for up to 15 minutes. Avoid boiling the mixture furiously since it won’t do the flavour justice. A slow process is the key to success!
 
If you like, you can kick it up a notch by adding some Cointreau, Curacao or Grand Marnier. Although, if you don’t want your mulled wine to have a high alcohol content, then you can leave it as is. Also, you should only add liqueurs to enhance certain flavours and not overpower the taste of the wine.
 
Finally, it’s time for the sugar! Now, depending on the type of wine you use, you might find that the quantity of sugar you add will vary. In addition, while you may require extra sugar, your spouse or friends may prefer less. For this reason, you might want to add just a minimal amount of sugar to the mixture and allow your guests to add extra if need be. Remember – you can always add sugar but you can’t take it out and over-sweetened mulled wine is no longer a desirable winter treat.
 
Remember that mulled wine is best served hot. In most cases, you won’t be able to drink it immediately but rather take in the pleasant aromas while you wait for it to cool down gradually. For this reason, it’s important not to serve mulled wine in fragile glass cups or regular wine glasses. Instead, choose a fancy transparent coffee mug or half pint beer mug instead. Make sure that your glasses are not ice cold when you pour the wine or they could crack! Place a cover over any leftover mulled wine or, if you have a pump pot style flask, you can make extra and store it in the flask to enjoy during the course of the day or evening.