Mulled wine cocktail "flaming wine"

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

This word in German means "flaming wine". Mulled wine is a cocktail served exclusively hot in special mugs with handles. And the basis of it is always wine.

A bit of history

The first mention of the prototypes of the drink appear in ancient Rome. However, at that time the wine was not heated, although spices and water were added there. Hot mulled wine is a cocktail that appeared during the Middle Ages in the states of Europe. It was the dominant drink in the Christmas markets. And they prepared it right under the open sky, mixing wine with water, heating it and flavoring it with galangal. This root is related to ginger, but it is not as pungent and has a perfumey aroma that replaces several spices at once. Only later, honey or sugar was added to mulled wine - a hot-bottled cocktail, and galangal was replaced with cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves, which have already become more affordable.

Important rule

Whatever the set of spices used, the principle of preparation remains important: wine cannot be boiled,but it just heats up. Therefore, there remains a lot of useful properties, enhanced by the action of spices, and the degree does not disappear, as a result of boiling. But the degree in the drink is not the main thing, it is rather weak. The main thing is its healing properties: after all, in the Middle Ages, it was not by chance that it was believed that the drink not only warms, but also heals many ailments.

Cooking technology

The optimal basis for such drinks (and there are many varieties of them) is considered to be dry or semi-dry red wine (Bordeaux is ideal). There are recipes that include strong drinks such as cognac or rum as ingredients. And cooking can be done in two main ways: without water and with the participation of an additional liquid, except for wine. Let's take a look at each one.

1. Without water, mulled wine (cocktail) is prepared as follows: the wine in the appropriate bowl, along with sugar and spices, is heated to a temperature of about 70 degrees (not recommended anymore, as the liquid starts to boil, and the healing properties are lost), stirring time from time. Then the vat is removed from the fire and covered with a lid. Be sure to let it brew for 15 minutes to half an hour - then the aroma will fully open.
2. With water. For 0.7 liters of wine, it is recommended to use only a glass of water (but for lovers of a weak degree, you can enter a larger amount). Add spices to the water and bring to a boil. This will allow the essential oils of the spices to come out, giving the drink a rich flavor. Then add sugar or honey to the bowl with water, stir. And only thenadd red wine at room temperature. Remove from heat and let it brew.

What happens if mulled wine boils?

In both cases of the recipe, as we see, it is not recommended to boil the drink during preparation (in the second method, as you noticed, we boil only water). If the drink boils, it immediately loses its subtle and harmonious taste and most degrees of alcohol. Tip: remove the dishes from the fire when the whitish foam on the surface has disappeared.

Spicy question

Many people ask what spices are traditionally used in the preparation of a hot wine cocktail. After all, what is galangal, only a few know. A mulled wine cocktail (photo above) can include quite a few ingredients. The main ones are: cinnamon sticks, dried clove buds, lemon peel, ginger (here's galangal), honey. Allspice and black pepper, anise, laurel, cardamom can also be used. From fruits: raisins and apples. Sometimes nuts. And one more thing: when preparing mulled wine, all spices must not be ground, otherwise the drink will squeak on the teeth.

Mulled wine cocktail. Classic recipe

As you already know, it involves galangal, but it is successfully replaced by ginger root. The rest of the recipe is quite simple (remember the main rule: do not boil)!

We will need: a bottle of dry red wine (if possible - burgundy, but ordinary table wine is also suitable), a glass of water, 5 peas of allspice, 5 cloves, a little cinnamon (not a powder, but a planed stick),about 1/8 of a whole nutmeg (pick with a knife), a few shavings of ginger root.

Pour water into the dishes and pour spices. Bring to a boil (no need to boil). We heat the wine to 60-70 degrees and mix with water with spices. We turn off the fire. Cover with a lid and let it brew. Drink well hot.

Note: since honey, and even more so sugar, was added to the drink much later, it is absent in this original recipe. The same goes for lemon zest. But for lovers of a sweeter taste, you can add a couple of tablespoons of honey (or sugar), a few shavings of fresh lemon zest, juice of half a lemon. The aroma and harmony of the drink will not suffer from this.

Mulled wine cocktail. Christmas recipe

Since mulled wine was originally brewed at the Christmas festivities, here is a recipe for such a drink.

Ingredients: a bottle of dry red, a glass of water (more is possible - for lovers of a weak degree), 1 apple, 1 orange, honey - a few spoons, black dry tea - 1 spoon, spices: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves - just a little bit.

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Pour in spices (not ground) and tea. Set the dish aside from the heat for a few minutes. During this time, we cut the fruit and uncork the wine. We put the dishes on a small fire again. Pour in wine and add fruit. We add honey. Stir and, without bringing to a boil, remove from heat. Cover with a lid and let it brew for 10-15 minutes. This is usually enough tofragrance unfolded.

For lovers of something stronger

You can make mulled wine with strong alcohol.

1. For example, for a bottle of dry wine we take a glass of coffee, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, half a glass of cognac, a couple of tablespoons of sugar. The recipe is about the same, the main thing is not to boil. It turns out an excellent invigorating and rather strong drink, they also drink it hot.
2. With white wine and rum. Instead of red, we use white (you can use nutmeg) and add a little rum.

Actually, mulled wine is an author's drink, so feel free to experiment and show your own culinary imagination.