how to make mulled wine (glühwein)

Introduction

warm spicy mulled wine is a perennial favorite for those cold winter nights and is great for sharing amongst a group
the process of making it whilst camping adds to the pleasurable experience but you will need a 1.5L medium sized lidded pot and a range of ingredients and a cooker with enough fuel such as a wood stove or a larger gas bottle BBQ stove (hiking stoves are probably not going to cut it as it will use a bit of gas).
mulling is the process of adding fruits, spices and sugar to a hot drink

if camping with large groups you may wish to triple the size of this and thus a 3.5-5L pot will be needed plus a ladle

each batch below gives 5 serves
whole spices, rather than ground, are key to nice mulled wine (and can also be used for spiced ginger tea or hot toddies)
go easy on the spices - they can be over-powering!

1 750mL bottle red wine
- mid-range ($10-20), medium to full-bodied red, like Zinfandel, Merlot, Grenache or Shiraz
- do not waste money on expensive wines as you will camouflage it with all the mulling
- look for wine described as “jammy” or with “notes of vanilla.”
- avoid red wines that are high in tannins or very oaky in flavor, like Cabernet Sauvignon
- avoid very light red wines, like Pinot Noir, because they don’t offer enough body to carry the spices
80-100mL brandy (but can use spiced rum, whisky, Cointreau, Amaretto, or even tawny port instead)
½ stick of cinnamon
6 cloves
2 pods of star anise
2 cardamom pods
½ orange (sliced)
- optionally, peel first to reduce bitterness
- optionally also squeeze some juice in
optionally add ½ lemon (sliced)
15 to 100mL honey or maple syrup according to taste (or sugar)
optionally, add 10g (or 5 tea bags) rooibos tea

add all ingredients into a medium pot eg. heavy bottomed Dutch oven or stainless steel pot
put the lid on and heat on low stirring periodically
warm the mixture over medium heat until steaming (about 5 minutes), and keep an eye on it.
when you start seeing the tiniest of bubbles at the surface, reduce the heat to the lowest of low
ideally you don't want the temperature to go ever 70degC otherwise you will evaporate the alcohol
simmer for 30 minutes to up to 3 hours
- heat it too long or too high, and eventually your wine will taste too spicy, syrupy and almost raisin-like, and the alcohol will evaporate over time
use a fine mesh strainer and strain into large pre-warmed jug (discard the citrus and spices)
- optionally, place all spices and citrus in a cheese cloth to avoid the need to strain it
- or just ladle it out taking care to avoid the spices
pour into pre-warmed glass coffee cups or similar
garnish with an orange peel and a grating of fresh nutmeg

dry white wine instead of red wine
1-2 caffeine free chai tea bag instead of the cloves and star anise
also consider trying ginger slices, nutmeg, or allspice
sprinkle some fresh cranberries in the pot a few minutes before serving as an alternate garnish