This word translated from German means "flaming wine." Mulled wine - a cocktail that is served exclusively hot in special mugs with handles. And its basis is always wine.
A bit of history
The first mention of the prototype of the drink appears 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 European countries. At Christmas markets, he was the dominant drink. And they prepared it directly in the open air, mixing wine with water, heating and aromatizing with galangal. This root is akin to ginger, but it is not so sharp and has a perfume aroma that replaces several spices at once. Only later in the mulled wine - a hot bottling cocktail - did they begin to add honey or sugar, and replace the galangal with cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and cloves, which became more accessible.
Important rule
Whatever the set of spices used, the principle of preparation remains important: the wine is not subject to boiling, but simply warmed up well. Therefore, there remains a mass 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: it was not accidentally believed in the Middle Ages 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 (the ideal is Bordeaux). There are recipes that include strong drinks like cognac or rum as ingredients. And cooking can be done in two main ways: without water and with the participation of an additional liquid other than wine. Let's consider each of them.
- Without water, mulled wine (cocktail) is prepared as follows: the wine in an appropriate bowl, along with sugar and spices, is heated to about 70 degrees (it is no longer recommended, since the liquid begins to boil, and healing properties are lost), stirring occasionally. Then the vat is set aside from the fire and covered. Be sure to let it brew from 15 minutes to half an hour - then the aroma will fully reveal.
- With water. It is recommended to use only a glass of water for 0.7 liters of wine (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 spice essential oils to come out, giving the drink a rich aroma. Then add sugar or honey to the dishes with water, stir. And only then add 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 you can 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 begins to boil, then it immediately loses its delicate and harmonious taste and most degrees of alcohol. Tip: remove the dishes from the fire when the whitish foam on the surface is gone.
Spicy question
Many people ask what spices are traditionally used in making a hot wine cocktail. After all, what is galangal, few know. A mulled wine cocktail (photo above) can include quite a few ingredients. The main ones are: cinnamon sticks, buds of dried cloves, lemon peel, ginger (here you have galangal), honey. Allspice and black pepper , anise, laurel, cardamom can also be used. From fruits: raisins and apples. Sometimes nuts. And again: all the spices in the preparation of mulled wine should not be ground, otherwise the drink will grit on your teeth.
Mulled wine cocktail. Classic recipe
As you already know, it involves the participation of the galangal, but it is successfully replaced by the root of ginger. 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 an ordinary table one is also suitable), a glass of water, 5 peas of allspice, 5 cloves, a little cinnamon (not a powder, but a sliced stick), about 1/8 part of whole nutmeg walnut (picking with a knife), several shavings of ginger root.
Pour water into the dishes and pour the spices. Bring to a boil (no need to cook). We heat the wine to 60-70 degrees and mix with water and spices. Turn off the fire. Cover with a lid and let it brew. We drink well hot.
Note: since honey, and especially sugar, began to be added to the drink much later, it is not in this original recipe. The same goes for lemon peel. But for lovers of a sweeter taste, you can add a couple of spoons of honey (or sugar), a few shavings of fresh lemon peel, juice of half a lemon. The aroma and harmony of the drink will not be affected.
Mulled wine cocktail. Christmas recipe
Since mulled wine was originally brewed at Christmas festivities, here is a recipe for such a drink.
Ingredients: a bottle of dry red, a glass of water (more can be used 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 a little bit.
Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Pour in spices (not ground) and tea. We leave the dishes from the fire for a few minutes. During this time, we cut fruit and uncork the wine. Again we put the dishes on a small fire. Pour the wine and lay the fruit. Add honey. Mix and, not bringing to a boil, remove from heat. Cover with a lid and let it brew for 10-15 minutes. Usually this is enough to reveal the aroma.
For lovers of something stronger
You can make mulled wine and with the participation of strong alcohol.
- 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 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, they drink it also hot.
- With white wine and rum. Instead of red, use white (you can use nutmeg) and add a little rum.
In general, mulled wine is an author's drink, so do not be shy in your experiments and show your own culinary imagination.