How to make real Glühwein (mulled wine)

This was our last video of 2012, and it's perfect for celebrating! Glühwein or mulled wine is such an amazing drink when made from scratch, it really doesn't reflect most mulled wines you get in the UK. And I think the problem in the UK is that the recipes here are more like a fruit punch than a Glühwein. There's often way too much juice, not enough spice and sugar and certainly not enough alcohol to make it a heart-warming experience. And that is what Glühwein is all about. Glühen means to glow in German, and so Glühwein is glowing wine in the sense that it gives you that glowing or warming sensation. And that is what regular mulled wine in the UK lacks the most. Because the glow in mulled wine is not only created through the heat of the drink and the Christmas spices, it's that extra shot of hard alcohol, like whiskey, brandy, rum or schnaps (often in Germany) that makes the whole difference.

And what also makes our recipe of mulled wine different is that at times we like to use optional ingredients that we have, like star anis, bay leaf, cardamom, lemon zest as an addition to the holy trinity of Glühwein flavours, cinnamon, clove and orange. Also, for the orange and lemon, it is better to use a zester than to put entire lemon or orange peels into the wine, after some time it will make the whole mixture bitter. We always put our spices and zest into a reusable muslin bag so that the flavour goes into the wine, but you don't end up having to sieve the bits and pieces with your teeth, which is very often the case with homemade mulled wine. You can also pass the orange juice through a sieve to guarantee no bits in your wine.

And finally, if you can afford it, use a decent wine. It doesn't have to be amazing, but tastewise there is a real difference between using the cheapest of wines and decent wines, so £5-10 bottles. But really exceptional wines don't make a difference, so don't splurge unnecessarily. And do try making Glühwein with white wine and rosé as well, it makes for very pretty alternatives, but do be aware that orange juice will cloud the mixture, so you could decide to only add zest for white and rosé. And serve it in pretty glasses :)