Glühwein
I moved to Germany shortly after the beginning of the new year, 2010. That meant I was exposed to Glühwein (hot mulled wine) for the first time, although it became much more relevant and loved later on, during my first full winter in Dresden.
Way too hot. My bad! No boiling allowed!
A friend recently asked for my Glühwein recipe and I realized, my recipe and column are behind a paywall at my former newspaper. Alas. However, I did manage to save the recipe, listed below.
For 1 liter of Glühwein
Ingredients
1 liter red wine, usually a heartier red, although I suggest staying away from Cabernet Sauvignon. Cheaper is usually better because the mulling decimates the nuance of the wine. Decent boxed wine or jug wine often works wonders on the palate, the brain and the wallet.
1 cup orange juice
2 round orange slices
2 full cinnamon sticks (4 half-sticks)
10 allspice (1-2 teaspoons ground)
10 cloves (1-1 ½ ground)
½ a Staranise
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
½ a nutmeg
3 cardamon pods, opened
5 half-inch slices of fresh ginger, quartered
⅛-1/4 cup sugar
Directions
Put all the ingredients in a pot on low heat with a lid on or partially on for 1-3 hours. If the mixture begins to boil, remove the lid momentarily. The key to mulling is to heat up the ingredients without boiling off the alcohol.
The below pictures in full quality, on Flickr.
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- Cutting oranges. More rind equals more bitter.
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- No boiling. And, I’m pretty sure this batch was done with white wine.
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- Way too hot. My bad! No boiling allowed!
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- Cinnamon sticks awaiting their fate, to be drowned in wine. Oh, the horror!
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- There’s me, in my Dresden hoodie, trying to get the last of the wine out of the bag. Probably could have cut it open.
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- No boiling allowed, please.
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- My former roommates Lee Ann, left, and Matt, right, on their phones as the Glühwein simmers, bottom right.
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- Cutting oranges. More rind equals more bitter. This time, it’s vertical.