Mulled Wine (Wassail Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

Are wassail and mulled wine the same? ›

History: Wassail (Middle English 'wæs hæl' - 'be you healthy') refers both to the salute 'Waes Hail' and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled wine, or as mulled cider drunk as part of wassailing, an English ritual intended to ensure a good apple harvest the following year.

Whats the difference between mulled cider, spiced cider, and wassail? The short answer is NOTHING! Both mulled cider and wassail refer to a spiced juice drink. While wassail is traditionally a warm spiced apple drink, other mulled ciders contain cranberry or other flavors.

When the weather gets cold, that means it's the best time of year to make your favorite warm drinks! Mulled wine is a hot beverage that's made by mixing wine with various spices and letting it simmer before serving warm. Mulled cider is the same concept, just with cider instead of wine!

The best red wine to use for mulled wine is Merlot, Zinfandel or Garnacha (also called Grenache). These wines are dark, fruity and full bodied, which means they can support all of the flavors we'll be adding. Look for labels that describe the wine as “jammy” or with “notes of vanilla.”

Most commonly “mulled wine” in English-speaking North America (more on “mulled” later), it is vin chaud or hot wine in French. In German-speaking countries, you would most likely encounter the popular winter beverage Glühwein, describing hot, spiced wine as glowing or smoldering.

Not much. Mulled wine is warmed, not boiled. Usually with added spices. Whether in a still or in boeuf bourguignon, the higher the heat, the more alcohol is released.

Ingredients. WATER, CANE SUGAR, APPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE, BLACKCURRANT JUICE CONCENTRATE, CITRIC ACID (ACIDULANT), NATURAL FLAVORS, SPICES (CINNAMON, CLOVES, NUTMEG, CARDAMOM, GINGER), LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, ORANGE PEEL.

It soon became a festive staple as people used to make this flavourful drink during winter months only. They used to prepare this drink, especially during Christmas, while enjoying the festival with their friends and family. Soon this became a tradition and is being followed till date.

As its popularity continued to grow throughout the middle ages, Europeans would mix heated wine with spices because they believed it would promote health and avoid sickness. They would also use herbs and flowers as natural sweeteners to make unpalatable wines taste a lot nicer.

You need to infuse the wine long enough with the spices to take on their flavour but DON'T ON ANY ACCOUNT LET THE MIXTURE BOIL as you'll be left with a bitter taste. Slow and low is the way to go. And it shouldn't be served piping hot, just comfortably - and comfortingly - warm.

Is mulled wine just warm wine? ›

Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas.

Mulled Wine Ingredients:

Wine: No need to splurge on a pricey bottle — a mid-range bottle of dry red or white wine will do.

Yes. Even though the spiced wine is heated, most of the alcohol remains.

The reason they are cheaper than a bottle of red wine is because there is far less red wine in them! If you read the (very) small print on the label of Lidl's Christkindl Gluhwein, it is described as a "Flavoured beverage containing wine".

Mulled wine goes by many names—spiced wine, hot wine, glögg, glühwein, and vin chaud are a few I hear used interchangeably.

The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail.

Many date the origins of mulled wine back to ancient Greece, where they would use spiced wine as a medicinal tonic to bring warmth to the body. Grecians would name this drink 'elixir hippocras' after Hippocrates of Kos – a physician known as the 'father of medicine'.