What is Mulled Wine? | Easy Mulled Wine Recipe
When the colder weather starts to set in and we become indoor creatures afraid of the wind, rain and frost, life can become pretty dull. It gets dark early. We fear going out. Life starts to become repetitive. Girls nights feel like an effort and it’s too cold for cocktails… or is it?
Thankfully there is mulled wine. A hot, sweet and spiced wine drink that will warm your soul and make you look forward to cold weather and girls’ nights in. And thankfully, we have made it easy to make! With our recipe, you only need two products rather than eight to ten (like most mulled wine recipes have).
———
What Does Mulled Wine Taste Like?
Yes it’s a great winter cocktail, but is it any good? Mulled wine is a delicious balance of sugar, oranges, cinnamon, star anise and nutmeg. It is sweet, spice and everything nice for all of the delicious ingredients takes the edge off of red wine.
Want more of an alcohol punch? Add a nip of brandy.
Let’s get to the recipe! First I will show the steps with pictures. Scroll down for a summarised version of the ingredients and method.
How Do I Make Mulled Wine?
First you will open the packet of our Cappa Stone Wines ‘Mulled Wine’ Cocktail Mix and add it to a saucepan or slow cooker. If you want to know whether you should make this with a saucepan or slow cooker, see the FAQ below.
The ingredients in our cocktail mix includes a perfect blend of brown sugar, cinnamon, dried orange, star anise and nutmeg. When creating this cocktail mix, we had convenience in mind. Mess free and stress free, it is so much easier to open this packet and empty the contents into a pan than it is to make sure you have all of the ingredients, weighing them out with measuring cups (that you will have to clean), cutting up oranges that splatter juice everywhere, wasting a whole orange because you only need a few slices and buying all the spices just to never use them again.
Mess free & stress free
Next we add a bottle of red wine, which we recommend our Artisan Shiraz. Crank up the heat and stir the mulled wine until the sugar is dissolved and the wine is starting to simmer. At this point you will turn down the heat, place a lid on top of the saucepan and set a timer for 15 minutes to 3 hours. The time you simmer for depends on the depth of flavour you want from the mulled wine and how quickly you want to start drinking it.
AVOID BOILING THE WINE. Boiling is the big bubbles and is what will cause your wine to reduce and burn off all the alcohol. So remember, keep it small bubbles. You don’t need to keep mixing while it is simmering, but you can every now and then if you want to.
Serve and enjoy! We recommend using a ladle and drinking your mulled wine from a mug. you can decorate your mulled wine with a cinnamon stick or slice of orange for a more aesthetic look - but if you don’t like things floating in your drinks, we suggest not doing this.
Mulled Wine Recipe: Stove Top or Slow Cooker
FAQ.
Can I Make Mulled Wine Ahead of Time?
Yes! And we have the best hack for that. After cooking your mulled wine, strain into a measuring jug or something with a spout to remove floaties. Pour the mulled wine back into the red wine bottle that you cooked it with.
I have included a picture of myself doing this (left) and as you can see, I was clumsy and lost a bit of the mulled wine in the process * cries *
How Long Should I Cook The Mulled Wine? And at What Temperature?
It is vital that when cooking mulled wine that the wine does not boil and that it does not cook for longer than 3 hours. This is to avoid the wine reducing and to avoid burning off all of the alcohol.
Should I Cook Mulled Wine on the Stove or in the Slow Cooker?
This depends on your preferred cooking method. On the stove is handy for if you want to quickly make a batch of mulled wine in 15 minutes. Whereas if you want to simmer your mulled wine for hours to enhance its flavour without worrying about the stove being on, then the slow cooker is for you.
Does Mulled Wine Have Brandy?
It can, but this is completely optional and is added during the cooking process. Doing this will boost the alcohol percentage of the beverage. We recommend about half a cup of brandy if you choose to do this. Some other good alcohols to add instead of brandy to get creative with your mulled wine are Contreau, Amaretto or Rum.
Does Mulled Wine Have Alcohol In It?
Short answer, traditionally yes. Long answer - you can make it non-alcoholic by substituting the red wine for non-alcoholic red wine. It will taste just as good!
We love hearing from you! If you have anything to add, leave a comment to start a conversation and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Read More Blog Posts Like This
Shop The Products Featured in This Blog
