Mulled Wine: How To Make It
Ok everyone, it’s time for mulled wine, I’m calling it.
I spent Saturday afternoon looking for recipes online. There are loads to choose from but none seemed to fit my simple criteria of
1. must involve satsumas (of which I have a tree full)
2. must not involve too many ingredients nor much effort on my part.
So I adapted a few recipes to create my own and here it is:
Ingredients:
1 bottle of red wine (you don’t need your finest chianti for this, just any old cheap plonk will do)
60g / 2oz sugar (whatever type you have available will work)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp of grated or ground nutmeg
1 tsp of grated or ground ginger
2 satsumas with several cloves stuck in the skin (makes it look very menacing)
1 dried bay leaf
optional: 60ml / 2fl oz of sloe gin / damson gin / vodka / cointreau / grand marnier / port / brandy for a bit of a kick
Method:
Put all the ingredients except the final shot (if using) into a saucepan. Give the mixture a quick stir.
Heat slowly and keep it just below simmering point for 10 to 15 minutes.
Taste to see if more sugar is needed and add as necessary.
Once all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot, take it off the heat to add the final shot.
Ladle into heatproof glasses or mugs and enjoy!
Final Thoughts:
If you are serving it at a party then you can keep the saucepan on a very low heat and just ladle it out whenever you see an empty glass. You could also garnish with a slice of satsuma if wanting to impress.
My name is CB, a twenty nine year old attempting to renovate a crumbling Portuguese farmhouse into a beautiful home and thriving smallholding. There is considerable work needed both indoors and out to create the gorgeous and productive home I have in mind but I do love a good challenge. 
