Mulled Wine

Any 'A Song of Ice and Fire' fans out there? They often drink hot mulled wine in this book series and even describe what goes into it in 'A Clash of Kings'! I had never had mulled wine and through the power of suggestion (curse your awesome food descriptions George!) I had to try it. I found a lot of good recipes online. I compiled them based on what sounded good and what I had available. A lot of recipes call for star anise, which I could not find it at the grocery and had to order on Amazon. It was still awesome without if you don't feel that dedicated (and especially good without it if you aren't a black licorice/anise fan). The other spices are a must though!

You don't want this to boil too much, or to boil uncovered as the alcohol will evaporate off. That is also why I add the brandy towards the end. I really like this with brandy, I tried without and it tasted pretty good but way better with it! This also has about half the sugar compared to a lot of recipes I've seen. The orange and wine are pretty sweet on their own. If you really have a sweet tooth you can add more sweetener. I also liked the ease and flavor of adding the whole orange (in slices). You get the juice and the skin and they are easy to fish out at the end.

Spices in first. I have three star anise which proved to be too many, so the recipe above is adjusted to 1-2. I ended up removing them part way through the simmer because they were taking over.

This is a half decent $20ish dollar bottle of brandy. If you are trying this for the first time go cheaper.

Yay! It's nice to get a box of wine if you actually like to drink it straight. This will be great for not only this mulled wine, but for french onion and plain ol' sipping.

Adding honey.

Set to simmer.

Also so so pretty. Mmmm zoom.

If you are taking this to a party an old wine bottle is great for travel and presentation. Make sure it's a twist off top instead of a cork for security. I used this Sharpie poster paint pen to label my bottle. This works really well because it will not smear or come off if it gets wet, but it's easily removed in a swipe with nail polish remover. You can reheat the mulled wine in a sauce pan, or just glass by glass. OR not even bother, this was still loved by all at room temperature!