A classic holiday drink, mulled wine is the warming, boozy beverage we love to cozy up to as soon as the weather starts to grow cold. Our classic recipe uses red wine,
traditional warming spices, and brandy to create the perfect holiday drink to serve a crowd (or just yourself, no judgment here!). With very little effort and less than 30 minutes,
you'll have the coziest winter drink on your hands—here's how to perfect it:
What is mulled wine?
Mulled wine is created by simmering red wine with a variety of warming spices, orange slices, brandy, and honey for around 10 minutes, until warm and combined. This long-standing drink originally dates back to ancient Roman times, where they would heat their wine with spices to keep them warm in the winter cold. Heated and spiced wine has now evolved throughout time to include different medleys of flavoring, including ginger, pepper, cardamom, and even herbs.
The best wine for mulled wine:
Personally, we like using dry varieties of red wine like Merlot, Malbec, or Cabernet Sauvignon. These will prevent your mulled wine from being too sweet, and will balance well with all of our added spices. No need to splurge on an expensive bottle here—choose one of your favorites that you enjoy drinking, or check out our article on all of the major types of red wines to learn more.
The ingredients for mulled wine:
Once you’ve got your red wine ready to go, it’s time to spice things up. Here’s everything you need:
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The spices. We use cloves, cinnamon sticks, and star anise to flavor our mulled wine. For us, the amount of spices used was perfect, but feel free to taste and adjust.
Up the spices if you prefer, or even add in some nutmeg or allspice.
- The honey. A little bit of honey is what adds some sweetness and balance to our mulled wine, but you can also use brown sugar or maple syrup instead.
- The fruit. We use an orange in two ways in this recipe: sliced into rounds and simmered with our ingredients, and used as a garnish at the end of cooking.
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The brandy. While brandy is classic in mulled wine, it’s not entirely necessary. If you don't like brandy, or don't want to buy a bottle, skip it—all the other components
will be lending plenty of boozy, spiced flavor to every sip.
Storage:
This drink is best enjoyed the day of, but if you have any leftover mulled wine, let it cool completely before storing for a day in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stovetop when ready to enjoy.
