Red wine is rarely mulled well – try white as a less conventional and gentler winter warmer
I don't really like mulled wine. I have gone out of my way to try to wean the readers of this column off it. Last week, we offered you a spiced mix of lager and stout as an alternative festive drink, which is very good and it turns out – thanks for the Scandinavian emails – a genuine thing. Previously, we tempted you with hot buttered rum. If you haven't made the rum yet, do please give it a go at Christmas. It is startlingly good. (Make sure you whisk the butter through the drink rather than letting it settle on the top.)
My disdain for mulled red wine is pretty arbitrary. It can be good if carefully done, but too often it is made with bad red wine and is either gut-rottingly acidic or so sticky-sweet that it gives you instantaneous morning-after-polishing-off-too-many-bottles-of-red wino teeth. If you don't know what those look like, you are blessed indeed.
So with the festive season in full swing, I am going to give you one last alternative – mulled white wine. It is gentler than the red stuff and will give you something to talk about if the conversation dries up with the in-laws.
Make sure you use a bottle of white that you would be happy to drink cold (the same goes for wine you put in gravy by the way). Something dry and fruity, such as a Riesling, would be good. For the spirit, I particularly like Yarde Cider Brandy, which is sold in small quantities by husband and wife cider makers Paul Gadd and Rebecca Jack from Stoke Gabriel in Devon. But any brand will do – even a French one.
*Mulled white wine *
Serves 4-6
*750ml white wine *
*1 thick orange slice, studded with 4 cloves*
*2 tbsp honey, or more to taste*
*1 cinnamon stick*
*1 star anise *
*2 cardamom pods, bruised*
*1cm-thick slice fresh ginger *
*75ml apple brandy*
*1* Add everything but the brandy to a pan and heat slowly until almost simmering. Turn off the heat. Leave for 20 minutes. To serve, heat until warm and add the brandy. Mix well.
Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon) Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
I don't really like mulled wine. I have gone out of my way to try to wean the readers of this column off it. Last week, we offered you a spiced mix of lager and stout as an alternative festive drink, which is very good and it turns out – thanks for the Scandinavian emails – a genuine thing. Previously, we tempted you with hot buttered rum. If you haven't made the rum yet, do please give it a go at Christmas. It is startlingly good. (Make sure you whisk the butter through the drink rather than letting it settle on the top.)
My disdain for mulled red wine is pretty arbitrary. It can be good if carefully done, but too often it is made with bad red wine and is either gut-rottingly acidic or so sticky-sweet that it gives you instantaneous morning-after-polishing-off-too-many-bottles-of-red wino teeth. If you don't know what those look like, you are blessed indeed.
So with the festive season in full swing, I am going to give you one last alternative – mulled white wine. It is gentler than the red stuff and will give you something to talk about if the conversation dries up with the in-laws.
Make sure you use a bottle of white that you would be happy to drink cold (the same goes for wine you put in gravy by the way). Something dry and fruity, such as a Riesling, would be good. For the spirit, I particularly like Yarde Cider Brandy, which is sold in small quantities by husband and wife cider makers Paul Gadd and Rebecca Jack from Stoke Gabriel in Devon. But any brand will do – even a French one.
*Mulled white wine *
Serves 4-6
*750ml white wine *
*1 thick orange slice, studded with 4 cloves*
*2 tbsp honey, or more to taste*
*1 cinnamon stick*
*1 star anise *
*2 cardamom pods, bruised*
*1cm-thick slice fresh ginger *
*75ml apple brandy*
*1* Add everything but the brandy to a pan and heat slowly until almost simmering. Turn off the heat. Leave for 20 minutes. To serve, heat until warm and add the brandy. Mix well.
Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon) Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.