Easy recipe for Mulled Wine or Gluhwein, a warm, spiced wine drink in which red wine is simmered with sugar, orange, cinnamon, and cloves. This cozy drink is perfect for the holidays!
Peel a medium size orange and save the peels. Pierce the cloves into one or more of the orange peels and set aside. Extract the juice from the orange and keep aside. Optionally, you can strain it to avoid any citrus fibers in the drink.
Turn on the Instant pot and select Saute on high. Add sugar and water and stir well. Bring the water to a boil and heat until the sugar dissolves completely.
Reduce the Saute setting to LOW. Add orange juice, orange peels, cinnamon, star anise, and the orange peels with cloves in it. Simmer for 2 minutes
Add red wine and let it steam, not boil. Takes between 4-6 minutes, depending on the size of the pot.
Hit Cancel and Turn on 'Keep warm' mode. This will keep the Mulled wine at a nice warm temperature for the evening. Add the rum or grand marnier just before serving.
Stovetop Recipe
Follow the same instructions in a deep saucepan. Keep the heat on low to make sure that once the wine is added, it does not boil.
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Notes
Use whole spices. Ground spices will cloud the wine and are very difficult to strain out. Whole spices infuse the wine with flavor but are easy to fish out when you're ready to serve.
Pierce the orange. I recommend piercing the orange peel with the cloves so they're easy to remove. Alternatively, you can use a spice cloth or cheesecloth to keep the cloves and star anise together so they can be easily fished out before serving.
Heat on low. High heat will cook the alcohol out and will cause the wine to become bitter.
Don't over-cook. You want to allow time for the spices to infuse into the wine, but if you leave them too long those flavors can start to overtake the flavor of the wine.
Double the recipe. You can easily double this recipe if you're serving a crowd. Simply double the recipe ingredients and cook as instructed. Just make sure to use the same type of wine.
For an even sweeter mulled wine, toss in sliced apple or a splash of apple cider.
Note: The nutrition facts below are my estimates. If you are following any diet plan, I recommend cross-checking with your preferred nutrition calculator.