We went to our neighbour Noel's for mulled wine, mince pies and present sharing at the weekend. And very nice it was too. I do think on the whole, mulled wine is very hit and miss and it's more often horrid than lovely, which is a shame.Here are my top five tips
1 Use a ratio of 1:1 wine to water. Don’t make it too strong or it will taste furry.
2 Only use whole spices not ground as they spoil the texture. Allspice berries, star anise, cinnamon are good. So are slices of root ginger. Cloves are okay but don’t use too many.
3 Make sure you balance it out with enough sugar.
4 Don’t let it boil. Keep it below a simmer – it’s better for flavour and prevents the alcohol burning off
5 Add a tot of brandy or sherry at the end for a bit of depth.
3 comments:
With you on mulled wine I've never really taken to it. I think large vats of ropey stuff bubbling away in student kitchens put me off.
We did have some good mulled cider at glastonbury which was just the thing to drink in the torrential rain. Have you ever had the stuff with molten butter on the top it's an acquired taste.
Water? What's that about? I say NO NO NO... You just have to put enough sugar to mask the furry wine taste.
I personally like cloves so I use loads. In Finland we always add a bit of brandy or vodka to make it even stronger.
Great on a cold night when you are freezing your **** off at Kew Gardens - bring it on I say! xx
Post a Comment