Mulled wine is the archetypal winter warmer: red wine gently heated with cinnamon, clove, star anise and orange, lifted with a measure of brandy and softened with a touch of sugar. Served steaming in a mug, it is as much aroma as drink — warm spice and citrus rising before the first sip, the brandy giving the soft, jammy wine a little backbone.
Garnish: Orange Wheel
built · Mug
build
Combine the red wine, brandy, sugar, orange rounds, cinnamon stick, cloves, and star anise in a saucepan.
other
Warm gently over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, until the wine is hot and steaming throughout.
strain
Strain off the spices and citrus and pour the hot wine into a warmed mug.
garnish
Garnish with a fresh orange slice and, if you like, an extra cinnamon stick.
No one invented mulled wine: warming wine with spices is a custom old enough to turn up in Plautus' Roman comedy Curculio in the 2nd century BC, and a spiced wine called Hippocras is set down in the medieval English cookbook Forme of Cury of 1390. It came down through many regional traditions rather than from any single hand, and as late as 1869 Mrs. Beeton's method still had the spiced wine brought right up to the boil. Today's cooks mostly keep it to a gentle, steaming heat instead, and the drink endures as a staple of Christmas markets and cold-weather get-togethers.