Mulled wine - cocktail "glowing wine"

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

A bit of history

The first mention of prototypes of the drink appear in ancient Rome. However, at that time wine was not heated, although spices and water were added there. Hot mulled wine - a cocktail, which appeared in the Middle Ages in the states of Europe. At Christmas markets, he was the dominant drink. And cooked it directly under the open sky, mixing wine with water, warming up and flavoring with a galangal. This root is akin to ginger, but it is not as sharp and has a perfume aroma that replaces several spices at once. Only later in the mulled wine - a cocktail of hot bottling - they began to add honey or sugar, and the galangal was replaced with cinnamon, cardamom, tubby and cloves, which became more accessible.

An important rule

Whatever the set of spices used, the principle of preparation remains important: the wine can not be boiled, but simply warms up well. Therefore, there remains a lot of useful properties, intensified by the action of spices, and the degree does not evaporate, as a result of boiling. But the degree in the drink is not the main thing, it is rather weak. The main thing - its medicinal properties: after all in the Middle Ages, it was not accidental that the drink not only warms, but also heals many ailments.

Technology of preparation

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

1. Without water, mulled wine (cocktail) is prepared as follows: Wine in a suitable container, along with sugar and spices, is heated to about 70 degrees (it is no longer recommended, as the liquid begins to boil, while the healing properties are lost), stirring occasionally. Then the vat is set aside from the fire and covered with a lid. Be sure to let it brew from 15 minutes to half an hour - then the fragrance will fully open.
2. With water. At 0.7 liters of wine, it is recommended to use only a glass of water (but for fans of a weak degree, you can enter more). In the water, pour spices and bring to a boil. This will allow the essential oils of spices to come out, giving the drink a rich flavor. Then add sugar or honey to the dishes with water, stir. And only then add red wine at room temperature. Remove from the fire and let us brew.

What happens if the mulled wine boils?

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

Spicy question

Many people ask about what spices are traditionally used when preparing a hot wine cocktail. After all, what is a galangal, know a few. A cocktail of mulled wine (photo - above) can include quite a few ingredients in its composition. The main are: cinnamon sticks, buds of dried cloves, lemon peel, ginger (here's a galangal for you), honey. Pepper fragrant and black, anise, laurel, cardamom can also be used. Of fruits: raisins and apples. Sometimes nuts. And more: all spices in the preparation of mulled wine should not be ground, otherwise the drink will grate on the teeth.

Cocktail mulled wine. Classic Recipe

As you already know, it involves the participation of galangal, but it successfully replaces the root of ginger. In other respects, the recipe is rather simple (remember the main rule: do not boil)!

We need: a bottle of dry red wine (if possible - Bordeaux, but the usual dining room is also suitable), a glass of water, 5 peas of sweet pepper, 5 cloves, a little cinnamon (not a powder, but a sticks), about 1/8 of a whole muscat Walnut (picking with a knife), several shavings of ginger root.

In the dishes, pour water and spill out the spices. Bring to a boil (do not need to cook). Wine is heated to 60-70 degrees and mixed with water with spices. Turn off the fire. Cover the lid and let it brew. We drink well hot.

Note: since honey, and especially sugar, began to be added to the drink much later, in this original recipe it is absent. The same applies to lemon peel. But for lovers of a more sweet taste, you can add a couple of spoons of honey (or sugar), several shavings of fresh lemon peel, juice of half a lemon. From this, the aroma and harmony of the drink will not be affected.

Cocktail mulled wine. Recipe for Christmas

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

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

We bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. We pour spices (not ground) and tea. We put the dishes off the fire for a few minutes. During this time, we cut fruit and uncork the wine. Again, put the dishes on a small fire. We pour in the wine and lay the fruit. We add honey. We mix it and, without bringing it to a boil, remove it from the fire. Cover the lid and let it brew for 10-15 minutes. Usually this is enough to make the fragrance open.

For fans of what is stronger

You can make mulled wine with strong alcohol.

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

But in general, mulled wine - author's drink, so do not be shy in experiments and show your own culinary fantasy.