A truly New Year's drink, saturated with the spirit of Christmas - this is what gives us a festive mood and a sense of comfort. But what needs to be done to ensure that mulled wine is not just tasty, but specifically branded, having its own “character” and unforgettable taste?
Which wine to choose?
Semi-dry or dry wines are the most ideal raw materials for mulled wine. Yes, this type of wine, to put it mildly, is “for everybody,” but it is used for traditional and real mulled wine.
Mulled wine was originally a cold drink. You want to ask why it happened? The blame was history and an accident. For belief, in the Spanish province of La Rioja, the wine of the harvest of 1679 was so disgusting and sour that the feudal lords began to destroy the vineyards of landowners.
Too hot mulled wine will be bitter.
To avoid uncontrolled vandalism on the part of the authorities and to preserve the wine, spices and citrus fruits began to be put into it, which, perhaps, was the beginning of the history of such a wonderful drink as mulled wine.
Perfect spices for perfect mulled wine
It's time to turn on the imagination and get your imagination out of the dusty shelves of consciousness. You can put cinnamon, ginger, and even peppercorns in mulled wine.
Stale mulled wine can be recognized by the muddy-brownish color.
For classic mulled wine, clove buds, grated nutmeg, cinnamon and star anise stars are used.
Too hot mulled wine can be bitter.
As you can see, the “field for creativity” is quite extensive, but the most important thing you need to know: spices should be used in a holistic way, because in a crushed drink it will be cloudy, and unpleasant grains of spices will interfere with enjoying the drink.
How to choose cookware for cooking?
It would seem, well, what’s wrong with which dishes the mulled wine will be cooked. But as practice shows, the dishes also contribute to the taste indicators of the future drink.
Mulled wine is very high in calories: in 100 ml. drink about 80 kcal.
For cooking, you need to choose a vessel made of stainless steel or heat-resistant glass.
The first mention of mulled wine was still made under Ancient Rome.
Aluminum utensils are absolutely not suitable for these purposes, because they can leave an unpleasant metallic aftertaste in mulled wine.
Honey vs. Sugar
This choice is everyone’s personal choice, but as practice shows, only honey can give mulled wine extraordinary warm notes of taste.
If mulled wine is boiled, then the wine loses its taste every second.
At the same time, the stumbling block may be the fact that at high temperatures, honey can decompose into dangerous compounds and carcinogens, which is also a minus.
During the evening, it is not recommended to drink more than 2-3 glasses of mulled wine.
Therefore, if you like the pure taste of wine and spices, it is better to put sugar in the drink, if you are a supporter of traditionalism - honey.
Why can vodka be added to mulled wine?
There is a recipe for mulled wine, which will be incomprehensible to a resident of Central Europe, but very familiar to the layman of the Scandinavian latitudes.
Mulled wine is recommended to drink at the first symptoms of a cold, as well as with depression or insomnia.
In the countries of Scandinavia there is its own analogue of mulled wine, and its name is glögg, which is translated from Swedish as “anneal”.
Initially a drink of the rich. With more due to the addition of sugar, which was more expensive than gold. Mulled wine “came to the people” only in the 19th century.
The peculiarity of this drink is that Finns and Swedes also add vodka to wine as an “additional warming element”.
