how great is mulled wine?

I couldn't find a thread for mulled wine.

Where have you had the best mulled wine? Have you ever made your own? Any tips to share?

etc etc

best AND cheapest mulled wine is to be found in Germany - 'gluehwein' - can be bought for like 79 euro cents per large bottle and makes for the perfect nightcap

lovely stuff, this

this is growing on me. i like the white, strong ones

I didn't know it came in white. So much to learn. What about rose, or maybe a fizzy concoction?

making it tonight so delicious

Gluehwein can also be bought in big bottles from Aldi and Lidl and, whilst it's a little more expensive than 79 cents, it's still a top 5 method of getting gently plastered.

it's all about the cinammon sticks, really but also: orange peel, whole cloves, other stuff i can't remember. then you pour the rum in after it's heated.

never made it with white; that sounds crazy!

i feel like maybe star anise?

The best I've ever had was in Metz, Northeast France. Amazingly spicy! Looking forward to trying white gluewein.

My father-in-law made a sensational dipping sauce to go with fishcakes last weekend - seeing that list of ingredients has just made me realise where he was going with it. We were all picking up the ramekins and drinking the sauce (practically licking the bowls clean) once the fishcakes were done, which should've seemed crazy but was absolutely what was required.

i've never made any on my own tho. tradition is to drink it with almonds and raisins but i'm not that into it, prefer mine plain and warm as hell

having a glögg party in a couple of weeks, invited about 40 folks over, gonna make enough of it to go around.

They have this huge "get yer mulled wine" display in the grocery with stacks and stacks of some comically xmassy-labeled Schmitt Sohne glühwein:

http://www.barrelsandbottles.co.uk/acatalog/8100.jpg x300, surrounded by Christmas lights

Being a huge sucker for any pleasantly displayed new alcohol, I am muy curious to try this but it scares the Viceroy. I don't know why esp. since he tends to totally dig the unintimidating fruitiness Schmitt Sohne usually present, including the somewhat worryingly named Liebfraumilch.

The Viceroy tried to make wassail once but someone poured a bottle of Pabst into it (up to that point I did not know Pabst came in bottles). I think it was doomed from the beginning tho since he used some Scotch called Duggan's Dew that I have never seen since that was less than $10 for the 750 ml bottle.

best AND cheapest mulled wine is to be found in Germany - 'gluehwein' - can be bought for like 79 euro cents per large bottle and makes for the perfect nightcap

There are gluehwein stands EVERYWHERE in Munich leading up to Christmas. Oh my God, its awesome.

I actually am bummed that I'm going to be in SoCal for Christmas. Seeing snow and actual wintery weather last year was wonderful.

I have some mulling spices that I bought at a cider mill. Apparently there was a sign saying they could also be used to make mulled wine. So I ask you:

What kind of wine do I use?

tbh i can't see how it matters bc you're altering the wine (i put sugar in and stuff), but i think recipes tend to call for cab sauv/cotes du rhone

I guess I meant more in terms of red or white, and can it come in a box, etc.

i do not see why it could not come from a box

but i don't know anything about wine in an un-mulled state

Nor do I. Or in a mulled state, for that matter, except that I am no fan of http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/11-21-glogg.jpg.

so wish i were putting some wine into a mulled state right now

I just read that "a lean white wine that hasn't been aged in oak works best for this drink".

But could it possibly EVER be as good as red mulled wine phwoar?

I always put at least double the spice quantity the recipe calls for and double the brandy. Not sure this is a good idea, but usually I'm trying to drown out the taste of poor quality wine....

Something like a syrah/shiraz, a malbec, or a grenache would work really well - big fruit in all of these, which would go nicely with the brandy and other added ingredients.

Best had steaming on a cold winter morning. On Maximillian Strasse.

this kinda shit makes me miss (actual) winter nights

I tried quite a few supermarket mulled wines over the past few years (mulling your own is pretty easy too) - came to the conclusion that M&S did the best one for a decent price (they also did white). I usually just chuck slices of orange in while it's heating.

Now I'm in SF I am missing the tacky European Christmas Markets with the hugely overpriced gluhwein and 10-foot-wide sizzling pan of pig meat :(

You can sometimes buy mulled wine spice mixes in the UK, can't remember exactly what's in em but cinnamon and cloves are U&K.

nutmeg, orange peel, cloves, cinnamon, sugar.

but you can get pretty good bouquets just to throw in the pot too, tbh

gluhwein, from a crock-pot, shot of schnapps

now that's good drinkin'

Come to think of it, the best mulled wine I've ever had was Finnish glogi at a Christmas market last year. Served with flame grilled salmon.

I am mulling wine right now.

How was it, Jenny?

I liked it, but I'm not sure anybody else did since I didn't add any sugar.

i had no oranges on hand so i used clementine peel: not the same imo

Had my first of the season at Luxembourg Christmas market yesterday evening. The drink itself was nothing special, but the atmosphere was just fine: hot chestnuts, cold weather and nice lights

Had my first glühwein session yesterdat at one of the many xmas markets in Vienna.. damn this shit is getting expensive - 3 euros a mug!

.... but still damn tasty

lol just got back from munich christmas market

damn

i had a glühwein royal, which is glühwein with ameretto and pernod or something (i wasn't paying attention).

munich is basically the capital city of christmas.

Making some of this 2nite, bitchez! I'm getting a little fancy w/ the recipe too. will report back later..

stunning. absolutely delicious. I will post the recipe tomorrow..

looking forward to seeing the recipe!

We did some on Christmas and the 'recipe' basically went: bottle of red wine, wine glass full of cheap Sainsbury's brandy, wine glass full of cloudy apple juice, a few tbsps of sugar, Barts spice sachet plus extra cinnamon sticks and cloves. Heat, drink to infinity.

the mulled wine from m&s is just wonderful

I have to make an IKEA hell run today and they usually have a glögg on sale. Oh, am forgetting about a dozen orange slices, DUH.

OK, here is my mega-awesome mulled wine recipe. Actually, I can't really take credit for this b/c it is based on a recipe I found online, tho I've made a few (minor) modifications:

This is for 1.5 liters (one standard magnum bottle) of wine, so you can modify accordingly (just cut in half for one standard 750 ml bottle, etc.)

To start, since this recipe calls for brandy/cognac, I followed B.L.A.M.'s advice upthread:

Something like a syrah/shiraz, a malbec, or a grenache would work really well - big fruit in all of these, which would go nicely with the brandy and other added ingredients.

Dealing w/ a fairly limited wine selection, I ended up going with Columbia Crest shiraz, tho I would like to experiment a bit more w/ different varieties down the line. As is the case w/ sangria (which I also like to make), it is good to start w/ a decent red, tho I would argue that it is not worth the expense of investing in a *good* bottle b/c you are just going to be adding a bunch of shit to it anyway. Same goes for the brandy (I just used el cheapo Paul Masson VSOP)

The rest of the ingredients are as follows:

- 4 x cinnamon sticks (I used five, actually)

- 6 x whole cloves

- 2 x tsp freshly grated nutmeg (not knowing how to grate nutmeg, I just bought some fresh stuff from the bulk section of my local organic grocer)

- 1 x tsp whole black peppercorns, toasted

- 1 x tsp allspice

- 2 x stars (or) 1 x tsp of anise (said grocer was out of stars, so I used grated anise. 1 star = .5 tsps)

- 2 x cups reg. sugar

- 2 x oranges

- 2 x small lemons (or) 1 x large lemon

- 2 x cups (one pint) brandy or cognac

Preparation:

- Cut fruit into wedges & squeeze the juice into a pitcher/bowl/etc. Put the rinds, along w/ everything else sans-wine, into your receptacle & stir until the sugar dissolves. Cover & put in the fridge to marinate for up to 24 hours (mine only sat for five & turned out fine)

- Mix w/ the wine in a saucepan & steep just short of a boil for 20 min. & stir regularly.

- Serve & enjoy!

*Note about spices = I bought all spices in bulk from a local organic grocer, where most thing available powdered are done so on-premises & hence very fresh. I'm sure this would turn out fine if you used regular prepackaged spices, tho the nuance of the flavors was so pleasant with my batch, that I would certainly recommend using fresh spices.

*Note about sugar = the recipe I based this on called for amount listed above (2 cups). If there was fault to be found in how this turned out, my girlfriend & I agreed that it was with the level of sweetness - a little much in our opinion. Next time I make this, I'll probably cut down the sugar by about a third. Maybe half, even.

Also, re: oranges - I used cara cara oranges, which have a dark red/orange fruit & a slight tartness, reminiscent of pink grapefruit. If you can find these, I would recommend using them b/c they are teh deliciousness!