The short answer: mulled wine spice for one 750 ml bottle of red wine is 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 star anise, 3 cracked cardamom pods and the peel of 1 orange. Warm it with the wine and 50 g of sugar for 20 minutes, steaming but never bubbling. Strain and serve hot. For an alcohol-free version, simmer the same spices into a syrup and stir it into hot grape juice.
Mulled wine spice is a handful of whole spices and citrus that turn cheap red wine into a Christmas market drink. Germans call it Glühweingewürz, and the Dutch buy it as glühwein kruiden. Whole spices are the point: ground ones turn the wine muddy and leave grit in the last sip.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Per bottle | 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 star anise, 3 cardamom pods, 1 orange |
| Heat | 20 minutes, steaming, never bubbling |
| Jar mix | Enough for 4 bottles |
| Keeps | Dry mix up to a year; syrup about 2 weeks in the fridge |
Ingredients
For one 750 ml bottle of red wine:
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cloves
- 2 star anise
- 3 green cardamom pods, cracked
- Peel of 1 unwaxed orange, in wide strips, or 1 tbsp dried orange peel
- 50 g sugar or honey, to taste
- Optional: 4 allspice berries, 1 thin slice of fresh ginger, 1 vanilla pod split open
Choose a fruity, soft red wine without much oak, such as Merlot, Grenache or Dornfelder. Expensive wine is wasted here. Very tannic wine turns bitter when it is heated.
How to make mulled wine with the spice mix
- Warm. Pour the wine into a pan, add the spices, the orange peel and the sugar.
- Steep. Heat it over low heat until it steams, about 70 to 80 °C. Keep it there for 20 minutes. Never let it bubble: boiling drives off the alcohol and turns the cloves bitter.
- Taste. Add more sugar a spoon at a time if you want it sweeter.
- Strain. Pour it through a sieve into a warm jug, or fish out the spices with a slotted spoon.
- Serve. Ladle it into heatproof glasses with a fresh slice of orange.
A jar of mulled wine spice for 4 bottles
Make this in November and the season is done. Mix in a jar:
- 8 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
- 16 cloves
- 8 star anise
- 12 green cardamom pods
- 4 tbsp dried orange peel
- Optional: 16 allspice berries
Use a quarter of the jar per bottle. For gifts, spoon one quarter into each of 4 muslin bags or paper tea filters, tie them shut and add a label: "1 bag per 750 ml, 20 minutes, never boil".
Alcohol-free: mulled wine syrup
A spiced syrup carries the whole flavour of mulled wine without the wine. Keep it in the fridge and you have mulled drinks for adults and children in one minute.
- Put 250 ml water, 200 g sugar and one quarter of the jar mix (or one bottle's worth of spices) in a small pan. Add the peel of 1 orange.
- Bring it to a gentle simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Take it off the heat and let it steep until cool, about 1 hour, with the spices in.
- Strain it into a clean bottle and keep it in the fridge.
How to use it:
| Drink | Mix |
|---|---|
| Alcohol-free punch | 200 ml hot red grape juice plus 1 to 2 tbsp syrup |
| Hot apple punch | 200 ml hot cloudy apple juice plus 2 tbsp syrup |
| Hibiscus punch | 200 ml hot hibiscus tea plus 3 tbsp syrup |
| Quick mulled wine | 750 ml red wine warmed with about 100 ml syrup |
The syrup is a flavoured simple syrup, so the same rules apply. For a single-spice version, see our cinnamon syrup.
The NOIDS Herb Lab infuses whole spices into oil or butter, not into wine or syrup, so make this one on the stove.
Mistakes that ruin mulled wine
- Boiling it: the alcohol goes, the cloves turn bitter and the wine tastes stewed. Keep it steaming.
- Ground spices: muddy wine and grit in every glass. Use whole spices.
- Too many cloves: they numb the tongue. 4 per bottle is enough.
- Pith in the peel: the white layer under the orange skin is bitter. Peel thin strips with a vegetable peeler.
- Leaving the spices in for hours: after about an hour the wine tastes woody. Strain it if you keep it warm longer.
How long mulled wine spice keeps
- Dry jar mix: up to a year in a closed jar, dark and dry. Whole spices keep their scent far longer than ground ones.
- Syrup: about 2 weeks in a clean, closed bottle in the fridge. Throw it away if it turns cloudy or smells sour.
- Leftover mulled wine: strain it, cool it and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat it gently.
For other warm spice drinks, our chai concentrate uses many of the same spices in black tea. For a deeper orange note, add a few drops of homemade orange extract to the pan.
Questions
What spices are in mulled wine?
Cinnamon, cloves, star anise and orange peel in almost every recipe. Cardamom, allspice, ginger and vanilla are common extras.
How much mulled wine spice per bottle?
2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 star anise, 3 cardamom pods and the peel of 1 orange for each 750 ml bottle.
How hot should mulled wine be?
Steaming, about 70 to 80 °C, and never bubbling. Boiling drives off the alcohol and makes it bitter.
Can I make mulled wine without alcohol?
Yes. Make the mulled wine syrup above and stir it into hot red grape juice, apple juice or hibiscus tea.
Can I reuse mulled wine spices?
Once more at most, for a milder second pan. The cloves and star anise give most of their flavour the first time.
