Hot Drinks for Cold Days
In 2020 we showed you how to make mulled wine at home better than any market stall. Five winters later, these recipes still hold up-and a new trend has arrived.
Back in winter 2020 we first wrote about how to upgrade your mulled wine at home instead of letting it be poured into a plastic cup at some stall. The question then: Can you actually do better than the sweet standard that gives you a headache after two cups? Answer after five winters: yes, and it’s easier than you think. Three recipes, a few rules, and you’ll have a hot drink you can proudly serve even the most discerning guest.
- Homemade mulled wine fails almost exclusively for one reason: it’s too hot. Above 78 °C the alcohol evaporates and the flavour turns bitter.
- White mulled wine has been the rising star of recent years. Fewer tannins, more acidity, and far more drinkable than the red version.
- If you don’t want wine, mix a mulled gin with apple juice and the same spices. Elegant, clean flavour, lower in alcohol.
- Quality is decided by the base wine, not the sugar frosting. A dry red wine for a few euros more beats any discount mulled wine.
- Freshly grated, not from a bag: whole cinnamon sticks, real cloves, unsprayed orange peel. That’s the whole difference.
Whether with apples, cinnamon, ginger, orange or a splash of gin: there are countless variations, yet most of us end up with the same sweet standard in our cups year after year. The good news? You don’t need a chalet or a sommelier’s diploma to change that. We’re sharing three recipes that have seen us through several winters, plus the rules that separate the good mulled wine from the mediocre.
The One Rule That Makes or Breaks It: Don’t Boil
The most common mistake people make when making mulled wine at home is both simple and costly. If you let the pot get too hot, you drive off the alcohol and burn the spices. At about 78 °C the alcohol evaporates, and at that exact moment the mulled wine loses its body and suddenly tastes bitter instead of rounded. The rule of thumb: heat on low, hold between 60 °C and 70 °C, never let it bubble vigorously. A cheap kitchen thermometer for a few euros takes the guesswork out of it.
The second lever is the base wine. Mulled wine isn’t the place to offload the cheapest plonk; quite the opposite. A dry red with a fruity profile-say a Dornfelder or a light Merlot-gives you a foundation that carries the spices rather than smothering them. The price bump over discount mulled wine is only a few euros per bottle, yet the difference in the glass is unmistakable.
Good mulled wine is decided by the base wine and the temperature, not by the amount of sugar you dump in at the end.
The Classic Homemade Version
Cozy at home instead of elbow-to-elbow at the market: this recipe is the baseline you can tweak to taste. Makes about one litre:
- 1 litre dry red wine (Dornfelder, Merlot or Spätburgunder)
- 50 ml rum
- 2 oranges sliced, 2 oranges juiced
- 7 cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 star anise
- 3-5 tablespoons candy sugar, to taste
Combine all ingredients except rum and sugar in a pot and warm gently without boiling. Stir in rum and sugar, then warm through briefly. Strain out spices and orange slices, serve piping hot. Feel free to add a vanilla pod, fresh ginger, a pinch of nutmeg or a few juniper berries. The sugar goes in last so you can taste and adjust instead of oversweetening blindly.
The White Secret Star
If you’re really a white-wine drinker, you don’t have to torture yourself with red all winter. White mulled wine was a niche curiosity a few years ago; today it’s a bona-fide trend. No surprise: Germany is a white-wine country, and the lighter style banishes the gripes many have with red. White wine has far fewer tannins and more acidity, yielding a mulled wine that’s lighter, fresher and more drinkable.
- 1 bottle white wine (Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Weissburgunder or Pinot Grigio)
- 500 ml cloudy apple juice
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 pieces star anise
- peel of 1 unsprayed orange
- 3 tablespoons honey
Combine everything in a pot and warm slowly. After about ten minutes remove from heat, stir in the honey now so it doesn’t caramelise, then serve. For one step up, use a Winzerglühwein base-only wines made by the vintner from their own grapes, bound by strict rules and produced on-site may carry that label. The difference is clear: more nuance, more freshness, leagues away from syrup.
The Glühgin for Everyone Without Wine
Want an elegant, homemade winter sipper with zero wine? The Glühgin is your answer. Clean on the palate, lower in alcohol than the wine versions, yet unmistakably winter thanks to the spice bill.
- 2 cl gin
- 1 piece fresh ginger
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 5 allspice berries
- 200 ml cloudy apple juice
- peel of 1 orange
Gently heat apple juice with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel, steep a few minutes, strain and top up with gin. Serve hot. Need an alcohol-free round? Skip the gin and you’ve got a spicy winter tea that holds its own against the original.
With these three recipes and the one temperature rule, your pre-Christmas season can begin. If you’d like to extend warm spiced drinks beyond alcohol, our ginger-orange immunity shots are the perfect cold-weather add-on. And when summer cravings for DIY cocktails return, our unusual summer cocktail recipes are waiting.
Good to Know
▸Why shouldn’t mulled wine be boiled?
Alcohol evaporates at around 78 °C, and the spices turn bitter. Keep the mulled wine between 60 and 70 °C so the aroma and body stay intact. A cheap kitchen thermometer is your best friend.
▸Which wine works best?
A dry, fruity red like Dornfelder, Spätburgunder, or a light Merlot. More important than the grape is a solid base wine-skimp on the wine and you’ll taste it in every sip.
▸What’s the difference between white and red mulled wine?
White mulled wine has fewer tannins and more acidity, giving it a lighter, fresher profile. Red feels bolder and sweeter. White has surged in popularity lately.
▸How much sugar does good mulled wine need?
Less than you’d think. Add sugar or honey only at the end and taste as you go. That way you avoid the cloying sweetness that hits you after two cups.
