Glühwein
From Day Drinking [1] by Kat Odell and Craig Lane of Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Notes
During the Winter, and especially when organizing holiday gatherings, mulled wine is my go-to. Not only is hot spiced wine incredibly simple to make — you’re basically dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pot and cooking — but the outcome of the drink always tastes far more complex than the effort that went into making it. Sometimes mulled wine can be a bit too sweet: The heat of the drink masks the sugar, but if you don’t finish your mug right away and the wine cools down a bit, suddenly the sweetness can wallop you. Happily, this recipe is the exception. Not too sweet, but just sweet enough, it tastes like the holidays in a glass. Note that it makes enough for a big party, but you can easily scale it down by cutting the recipe in half or even a quarter.
Ingredients
- 8 bottles (750 milliliters each) dry, fruity red wine, such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais
1 1/4 cups sugar
8 cinnamon sticks
3 oranges studded with cloves, then sliced into 1/2-inch-thick wheels
30 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Peel of 2 lemons
2 1/2 cups brandy, such as Armagnac or Cognac
1 bottle (750 milliliters) kirsch or maraschino liqueur, for serving
Directions
- Combine the wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, clove-studded orange wheels, cloves, mace, allspice, nutmeg, and lemon peel in a 9-quart stockpot over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, 15 minutes.
- Add the brandy and simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 15 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large heatproof bowl, pressing the oranges with the back of a spoon to extract the juice; discard the
solids. Return the Glühwein to the pot and keep warm, over low heat. To serve, pour 1/2 ounce of the kirsch into each mug and top with 1/2 cup of the Glühwein.
Source: Excerpted from Day Drinking by Kat Odell (Workman Publishing). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Nicole Franzen.
Information
- Category
- Drinks
- Cuisine
- North American
- Yield
- About 40 servings