This traditional homemade mulled red wine recipe is very easy to make. So warm and cozy for sipping on cool winter nights!
Ingredients
1BottleRed Wine750 Milileters
1 ½CupsApple Juice
½CupBrandy
½CupTriple Sec
½CupWhite Granulated Sugar
1Cinnamon Stick
6Whole Cloves
6Whole Allspice Berries
1Small Orange
Garnish:
6Cinnamon Sticks
Instructions
Combine. In an 8-cup saucepan, combine the red wine, apple juice, brandy, triple sec, sugar, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and whole allspice.
1 Bottle Red Wine, 1 ½ Cups Apple Juice, ½ Cup Brandy, ½ Cup Triple Sec, ½ Cup White Granulated Sugar, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 6 Whole Cloves, 6 Whole Allspice Berries
Add Peel. Cut the orange in half. Remove the outermost part of the peel from one-half of the orange and add it to the wine mixture.
1 Small Orange
Simmer. Heat the wine over medium-low heat until the mixture barely comes to a simmer. Immediately, reduce heat to low heat and let the mulled wine heat for at least 20 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes.As the mulled wine heats, slice the other half of the orange and cut each slice into quarters. Set these quarter-slices aside for garnishing.
Serve and Enjoy. Ladle the mulled wine into mugs and garnish each mug with a fresh quarter-slice of orange and a cinnamon stick. Serve and enjoy!
6 Cinnamon Sticks
Notes
My Top Tips♡Use Cheesecloth - The whole cloves and the whole allspice can be placed into a small cheesecloth bag and then added to the mulled wine as it simmers. This makes it easier to remove these spices before ladling the mulled red wine into the mugs.♡Make Ahead - You can make this mulled wine up to 2 hours ahead of serving. Just cover the pan and let it stand at room temperature. When you are ready to serve it, slowly reheat it over medium-low heat.Substitutions & VariationsSubstitute Grand Marnier. Instead of using brandy you can substitute the very lovely tasting Grand Marnier. Grand Marnier is a cognac that is blended with bitter orange liqueur. Simply replace the ½ cup of brandy with ½ cup of Grand Marnier.You might think that you are doubling the orange flavors by also using triple sec, and you are. But Grand Marnier contains bitter orange and triple sec is sweet, so the two balance each other very nicely. Although Grand Marnier is expensive, this is a splurge that is absolutely worth the cost!Substitute Star Anise. Instead of using 6 whole cloves you can substitute one star anise. Star anise is an entirely different flavor from cloves. It tastes and smells like licorice. If you prefer that flavor to cloves, please do make this substitution. But in general, I do not recommend using both cloves and star anise together in a recipe. In my opinion star anise is a powerful spice and can dominate any other spice.Substitute Chinese Five Spice. If you can't afford to purchase whole cloves, whole allspice, and cinnamon sticks, consider purchasing Chinese Five Spice which contains star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Szechuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds. The flavor of this spice blend is well-balanced and although different from the spices I listed, it is an economical way to get a pleasant spice profile from a single purchase. Although I cautioned not to use star anise with cloves in a recipe, this is an exception.