One of the first beverages that come to mind, when one says Christmas is definitely the mulled wine. Did you know that this warm and spiced concoction has been associated with the Yuletide spirit for a while now? The idea of mulled wine today comes from Victorian England. Also, Charles Dickens once wrote about a seperate version of mulled wine - the Smoking Bishop- in the novella A Christmas Carol, published in 1843. That really cemented the whole idea about X-mas and this drink. However, according to some reports, this drink originated during the second created when both the Greeks and Romans wanted to put their leftover wine to good use and also keep their bodies warm in the process. This warm drink usually has a bit of orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg all stirred up in red wine.
If you have port or red wine left at home try this recipe from The Park Hyderabad, known for their delicious mulled wine during this time of the year for special occassions.
Ingredients:
Red wine - 1 bottle
Honey - 120 ml
Cinnamon sticks - 4
Whole lemon -3
Orange -2 (zested and juiced)
Whole cloves-6
Star anise- 4
Vanilla pod-1 gram
Recipe :
Heat a bottle or more of Red wine in a Pan.
Add the cinnamon sticks, clove, vanilla pods, honey, star anise.
Throw in the lemon wedges, orange juice and zests and wait till 10 minutes.
Heat until the wine almost boils and serve in ceramic cups.