When days are short, cold and covered in snow, we like our cocktails served piping hot. A little mini bottle of Ullr in your hot cocoa will sometimes cut it, and we do love a hot toddy from the Spur after a day on the hill, but the holiday season has us craving something we remember from our grandmother’s kitchen. Enter mulled wine or gluhwein, the traditional Austrian/German apres ski drink.
This old school beverage is kind of like winter’s answer to sangria: it involves adding sugar and fruit to mediocre wine to create something delicious. It’s quite easy to make this warming, wintery drink at home. Local food writer and former chef at The Kitchen and Maho Catering Helen Goelet recommends starting with “a dry red wine, and since you’re adding sugar, you’ll even want to go cheap.”
From there, it’s easy to gather the rest of your ingredients from what you have in your kitchen already. There are plenty of one-step crockpot style recipes on the internet, but we prefer Helen’s method for enhanced flavor and a wine that will warm you from the inside out. (No time to make your own? We also love the Gluhwein from The Handlebar at the Four Seasons.)
Ingredients
- 1 bottle red wine
- 3 shots brandy or cognac
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- One orange, peeled into a ribbon
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Dissolve sugar with the juice of your orange and 2 cups water.
- Add cinnamon, cloves and orange zest, and reduce slowly until fragrant (about 20 minutes).
- Add wine, raisins and almonds.
- Cook until hot.
- Add cognac or brandy to serve.
