Christmas Time Is Mullen Wine Time..

The origin of mulled wine is very old. It was created in the 2nd century by the Romans who would heat wine to defend their bodies against the cold winter. As the Romans conquered much of Europe throughout the next century, their love for mulled wine spread across their empire and the regions they traded with.


As its popularity further continued to grow through the middle ages, different parts of Europe experimented by different ingredients but one thing was common  that is alcohol mixed with  heated wine with combination of spices, it was  believed that the concoction would promote health and avoid sickness. They would also use herbs and flowers as natural sweeteners to make unpalatable wines taste a lot nicer.


Over time, the craze for mulled wine faded across the  Europe except for Sweden, where its popularity only increased. Claret (Rhen wine, sugar, honey and spices) and Lutendrank (various spices, wine and milk) were just two of the variations that the Swedish monarchy made famous over the coming centuries.


As more alternatives developed over time, recipe books started using the collective name Glögg, first mentioned in 1609. The next big adaptation took place in the 1800s when Cognacs-Glögg started to become popular, too.


The big turning point came in the 1890s, when Glögg

became associated with Christmas. Every wine merchant across the country had their own unique recipe to share. Over time, these unique bottles (most depicting Santa Claus) were distributed throughout the rest of Europe – uprooting the long forgotten mulled wine in a new festive light.

Over the next several decades, mulled wine had become a global phenomenon, with countries all over the world creating their own unique blends. Variations now include everything from red and white wines to sangria blends and vermouth to port – each country's method slightly different from the next.


To this day, mulled wine continues to be a Christmas tradition alongside its sister drink, mulled cider. I've put together a quick and easy recipe so you too can make your very own batch :

What You Need :

• Wine: Red or white, you pick.  And definitely nothing expensive, since the mulling spices and citrus will be the dominant flavors here.
• Citrus: Oranges (or clementines) are classic here, but feel free to add lemons or limes for color.
• Cinnamon: A long sticks, but you could whisk in some ground cinnamon if that’s what you have on hand.
• Other spices: These vary from country to country, but I cloves and star anise are my favorites, plus occasionally a few pods of cardamom.
• Sweetener: Feel free to add your favorite sweetener to taste.  Sugar is classic, but try a few tablespoons of honey or maple syrup .
• Extra liqueur: Similar to sangria, it’s also traditional to spike your mulled wine with an extra bit of liqueur, if you’d like.  A dash of brandy, but any favorite liqueur will do here.  

Next Step :

1. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the  wine, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon rind and orange rind. Heat gently, but don't bring to the boil. ...

2. Keep hot on medium to low heat for 20 minutes to let the flavours infuse the wine. 

Serve your mulled wine hot in glasses or mugs.

A cold shiver would probably run down the spines of the south Europeans if they were forced to heat up Bordeaux, Rioja and Co. or replace them with other warmed spirits on frosty winter days. But there’s no need to worry: the tradition of Glühwein,mulled wine or vin chaud ('warm wine'), as the French tend to call the pleasant Christmas Drink, has only been able to set in in the more northern regions of the old continent, where nowadays people willingly spend time at the draughty Christmas markets in order to press frozen hands against the warm Glühwein mug and to inhale the aroma of advent.


But the north-south Europe theory doesn’t quite work when it comes to Glühwein. Despite all their honor for Bacchus, the old Romans also poured in honey, pepper, laurel and saffron into their magic drink Conditium Paradoxum, which is now officially known as the precurser of Glühwein. According to the recipe, only slices of orange, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods and cloves can actually be put in the German Glühwein. But this wouldn’t be Europe if we were all to do things the same way. And so in Poland honey is added to the drink grzaniec, which is loosely based on the Romans’ drink, while the Scandinavians spice up their Glögg (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian: Gløgg, Finnish: Glögi) with a good swig of corn or vodka.


This Swedish punch on the other hand goes back to the tradition of punch in old India. It was the Englishmen from the British East Indian company who in the seventeenth century shipped in the Hindu-mix of arrack (sugar cane schnapps), sugar, lemon, tea, spices and water to Great Britain, it as quick as lightening turned into the fancy drink of the Tories. Even Mozart knew to value this fine drink: 'Punch and a pipe of tobacco is the element of Great Britain,' he wrote to his friend Hagenauer. If the British ships lacked Indian ingredients, then a Grog remedy could be made freely following the motto rum must, sugar may, water can (spoil everything), because the daily ration of rum was part of the standard provisions of the British navy.

Feuerzangenbowle, is an explosive Christmas cocktail from Germany, but it is strictly speaking a punch. The name gives it away: to make real Feuerzangenbowle you need to be well equipped with fire tongs, a sugar loaf, a cauldron and some hard liquor. And as that isn’t complicated enough, i Feuerzangenbowle goes back to the juniper berry schnapps of a liquor factory in Danzig with the melodious name Krambambuli. Because of similar colouring and – surely – low addition ability both terms were used synonymously in student circles in the nineteenth century. The student tradition has stuck to this day and received cult status particularly because of the filming of Hans Spoerl’s student novel Die Feuerzangenbowle('The Punch Bowl', 1944) with actor Heinz Rühmann. Even today the film is traditionally broadcast in the run up to Christmas and students meet in lecture halls to celebrate the event with sparklers, alarm clocks and a drink from test tubes.

In the U.S., mulled wine has not enjoyed the same widespread popularity as in Europe. However, mulled wine can be found increasingly at bars and restaurants in cold-weather states and on holiday dinner tables.


Desi Mullen

To give a run to Mullen wine, we have hot toddy. The toddy has been a popular Indian drink made from fermenting palm tree sap. ... The four traditional toddy ingredients are: honey, hot water, lemon and bourbon, though this too is not set in stone.


















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