Mulled wine is very popular all over the world, almost every nation has its own version, such as the GermanGlühwein, the FrenchVin Chaud,the ScandinavianGlögg, the ItalianVin Brule, the ChileanNavegadoor the EnglishMulled wine. It certainly is a lovely drink during the winter season, particularly over the Christmas holidays and other winter festivities.

Of course, you could just buy a bottle of ready-made supermarket mulled wine and warm it up, but it doesn’t taste anything like as good as a proper homemade one. Or you could buy mulled wine sachets and add these to warmed up wine, but again these types just don’t taste like the real thing either.

So it’s best to make your own mulled wine and it’s not difficult – first just read these tips about how to make mulled wine>> then come back to this page and choose one of these delicious mulled wine recipes.

Simple mulled wine

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, 50g of brown sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 orange (cut in half), 1 bay leaf, grated nutmeg Preparation: In a heavy-bottom saucepan mix the ingredients together and slowly heat until the sugar has melted, while stirring frequently. Do not boil! Tip: liven it up with 50 ml of gin!

Ginger mulled wine

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, 10 pieces of cloves, ⅔ cup honey, ¼ cup of brandy, 3 small cinnamon sticks, 2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp freshly grated) Preparation: In a saucepan pour the ingredients together and slowly heat it, while stirring. Do not boil!

Orange mulled wine

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, 700 ml water (or orange juice), 1 orange(sliced), 1 orange (studded with cloves), 1 lemon (sliced), 3 Tbsp sugar (or honey), 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp ground ginger, 2 Tbsp orange liqueur Preparation: put all ingredients in a saucepan, heat it while stirring. Do not boil!

Jamie’s mulled wine

I’ve tried many recipes during the years  –  this is probably my favorite one:

Ingredients: 2 clementines, zest of 1 lemon,  peel of 1 lime, 200 g sugar, 6 cloves, 3 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, nutmeg, 1 vanilla bean (halved), 2 star anise, two bottles of red wine Preparation: Peel the fruits, squeeze the juices out of the mandarins. Put these into a pan, add the sugar, the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and  10 gratings of the nutmeg. Add the vanilla, then pour in enough wine to cover the sugar. Heat to simmering point. When the sugar has dissolved and you have a thick syrup (about 5-10 minutes later), turn off the heat and add the rest of the wine and the star anise. Rest for about 5-10 minutes to infuse, then heat it up over a low heat, but don’t let it boil. Tip: you can use 1 tsp of vanilla paste  instead of vanilla bean. You can add the peel of the Clementine to the base too. You can use mandarins or oranges as well.

Mulled wine with vodka

Ingredients: 2 bottles of red wine, juice of 1 lemon, ½ litre of orange juice, 100 ml vodka, 6 cloves, 150g brown sugar, orange slices Preparation: heat the wine, lemon juice, cloves and orange juice with half of the sugar, stirring for a few minutes. Turn off the heat, add the vodka, and enough sugar to make it sweet enough. Rest for 5 minutes, heat it again if necessary.

Mulled wine with cognac

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, two cinnamon sticks, 50 ml Cognac, 10 pieces of cloves, 1 pinch of nutmeg, 1 lemon, 1 orange, 2 Tbsp sugar Preparation: slice the fruits.  Add all ingredients to a pan, gently simmer on very low heat for 20 minutes. Do not boil!

Classic Glühwein

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, 2 cinnamon sticks, 16 pieces of cloves, 2 Tbsp honey (or ½ cup of sugar), 1 cup of water, 1 tsp gingerbread spice mixture, 1 orange Preparation: cut the orange into 8 slices, stick the cloves into these. Warm the water, honey and spices, add the orange slices, pour in the wine. Simmer until it’s warm enough –  don’t let it boil. Add more sugar if needed. Rest for about 1 hour, then reheat it before serving.

Glögg

Ingredients: 1 bottle of red wine, 500 ml brandy or vodka, 10 cardamom seeds, 1 cinnamon stick, peel of half an orange, 150g of sugar Optional: 5 cloves, ½ cup of raisins, half a cup of almonds, 5 dried figs Preparation: put the  ingredients in a pan and gently simmer for 45 minutes at a very low temperature. Do not boil! Tip: you can add a pint of port to this – but remember, this glögg is stronger than normal mulled wine!

Tips

• It must be stressed that mulled wineshould not reach boiling point,and it’s best cooked under a lid, otherwise most of the alcohol evaporates.
• Serve it through a tea strainer to remove the inevitable bits!
• Serve mulled wine with mince pies and other Christmas treats.
• Take mulled wine with you in a thermos to warm you up at outdoor activities and events.
• Don’t throw away leftover mulled wine – you can make cakes, dessert and other treats from it.