Name: Glühwein (Mulled Wine)
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 litre red wine; 50 grams granulated sugar (or to taste); 1 tsp cloves; 2 cinnamon sticks; 3 star anise; 1 orange (juiced)

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The smell of this super easy mulled wine will make your whole house smell like Christmas! This mulled wine is sooo easy and quick to make, you’ll want to keep making it all winter.

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Mulled wine reminds me of the German Christmas markets. The most amazing Christmas market that I’ve ever been to was a very long time ago in Germany (Ulm) as I was visiting a friend who was studying there. In Sweden, we also had mulled wine around Christmas time to keep us warm. Mulled wine is called glogg in Sweden, and Gluhwein in Germany.

Mulled wine or Glühwein is the most soul-warming drink ever. This wine is sweet, richly spicy and aromatic. If you make it at home, your kitchen will smell like Christmas all day.

MULLED WINE SPICES

Many different spices can be added to mulled wine, so it depends on what kind of spices do you like the most but this is what I like to add to my mulled wine:

Cinnamon sticks

Cloves

Anise stars

I also like to add nutmeg sometimes, and cardamom also gives a lovely flavour to the mulled wine.

MORE TIPS:

Fruits also add a great sweet flavour and aroma to the wine, you could add clementines, oranges and apples. I also like to add a little bit of orange juice.

To enhance the flavour, you can add a shot of rum or brandy at the end.

Red or white wine can be used to make mulled wine, but red wine is much more popular. I like to use an inexpensive extra dry red wine and double the batch.

HOW TO MAKE MULLED WINE ON THE STOVETOP

I’ve seen some “one minute mulled wine” recipes on the Internet that tell you pressure cook the wine for one minute. But the problem with that method is that the alcohol should not be boiled or be exposed to very high temperature. So here’s the correct way to make mulled wine:

heat water and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. Let it boil and make sure that the sugar is dissolved in the water.

Add the spices that you’re using and any fruits if using. Simmer for a few minutes then reduce the heat.

Add the wine, and leave it for a few minutes on low heat. Let the wine steam, and never boil!

Add fruit juice and rum or brandy if using then strain if necessary, serve warm.

INSTANT POT MULLED WINE

You could also make the mulled wine in your Instant Pot. I really love using my Instant Pot for this as the “keep warm” option is so great for this. It makes sure that my wine stays warm while I entertain my guests!

On the Instant Pot, click on “Saute” option on medium and add water and sugar. Let the sugar dissolve, then add the spices and the fruits.

I usually add oranges and apples, but you could also add clementines.

As for spices, please refer to the spices listed above.

Tip: I like to pierce an orange peel with the cloves, as it’s much easier to collect them later when straining/pouring the mulled wine in glasses.

Cook the spices and the fruits in the syrup for a few minutes.

Add the red wine, cover with a lid and let the wine steam on low saute (make sure that it does not boil).

Let it steam for a few minutes, and it’s ready!

Keep the setting on “keep warm” as you entertain your guests, or if you made your wine too early. This will keep your wine warm and nice for whenever you’re ready to serve.

Tip: Make sure that you remove the oranges and the spices from the wine if you leave it on “keep warm” as the taste might become bitter if the oranges stay in there for too long and the spices might overpower the taste of the wine.

NON-ALCOHOLIC MULLED WINE

For a non-alcoholic version of mulled wine, either get non-alcoholic red wine to make this. Or you could mix fruit juices, such as pomegranate juice with blackberry juice. The spices will remain the same, and so is the method.

MULLED WINE GLASSES

What to serve mulled wine in? I personally really like having mulled wine in a mug, it’s a hot drink and drinking it from a glass makes it a bit more difficult.

So I would suggest that you serve it in a transparent mug, to be able to see what’s inside and enjoy the wine!

By the way, have you heard of Sahlab before? This is my FAVOURITE winter drink! You must give it a try!

If you make this easy hot wine using my recipe, please don’t forget to rate this recipe and share a picture on social media. Tag #LittleSunnyKitchen in your posts as I would really love to see what you make! Thank you for supporting Little Sunny Kitchen, so I can keep sharing my tasty recipes with you for free.