Mulled Wine

What: Hot Mulled Wine

Rating: 8

Non-Quantifiable Rating: Why British people can stay warm in the winter.  Warm...and drunk.

I discovered the glory of hot mulled wine during a Christmas celebration in Hyde Park while I was living in London.  I had just been thinking that it was a shame to have a Christmas celebration with no snow, but after a healthy dose of this stuff, I became the jolliest of elves. 

Mulled wine is more labor-intensive than just cracking open a bottle, but it's worth the effort.  The next time you have people over this winter, bust out the crock pot and get mulling.  Charming British accents not included.

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH MULLED WINE (adapted from epicurious.com)

Makes 8 generous servings

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 bottles of dirt-cheap, full-bodied red wine (like 2 Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon)

- 2 lemons

- 1 orange

- 100g - 150g of demerara sugar (to taste)

- 4 whole cloves

- Pinch of cinnamon

- Pinch of powdered ginger

- 1 dried, torn bayleaf

- generous splash of Port wine, Cointreau, or Brandy (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat the slow cooker on high as you prepare the ingredients. Pour the wine into the cooker. Cut thin slivers of rind from one lemon and squeeze the juice directly into the wine. Also add the rind. Cut the orange in half, stud one half with cloves (as in, stick the pointy part of the cloves into the orange flesh until they stick) and float the orange clove-side down on the wine. Retain the other half of the orange for later. Add the herbs and spices and continue to heat on high for an hour.

Add the sugar with stirring until it has dissolved, then turn to low.

To serve, remove the lemon rind and orange half and stir in the Cointreau or brandy. Slice the remaining lemon and orange and float on top of the mulled wine.  Add more sugar if it's too tart, or more lemon juice if it's too sweet.

Enjoy!