What's a simple recipe for mulled wine?

October 12, 2007 8:55 AM

What is a simple recipe for mulled wine that i can make when camping?

I am heading for a weekend camping trip, and it's going to be pretty cold. The campground allows alcohol, so i would like to make some mulled wine to warm ourselves up at night. But, a lot of recipes that i see online require too many ingredients. Can someone recommend something that's quick and requires only a few ingredients?

posted by PlayWithFire to food & drink (11 comments total)

cinnamon sticks and cloves ought to do it. add some sugar or honey to taste.

if that's too few ingredients, here are a few more:
green cardamom pods
pieces of dried ginger
white peppercorns

of course, you could always grind everything to a fine powder beforehand to save space.
posted by dorian at 9:04 AM on October 12, 2007

For each bottle of wine, take a small baggie containing a couple tablespoons of sugar, about 5 cloves, a half-stick of cinnamon.

If you intend to keep using the same pot for bottle after bottle, you can decrease the amount of spices in each successive baggie as the bits in the pot will still impart flavor.

Sugar is purely optional. It will enhance the spice flavor but increase hang-over.
posted by Seamus at 9:06 AM on October 12, 2007

Go to the grocery store and get yourself the smallest jar of pumpkin pie spice that they have. My general recipe is a few tablespoons sugar and enough pumpkin pie spice to make it smell delicious. Usually no more than half a teaspoon, but you may find that you desire more kick to your gluevine.
If I'm feeling particularly gourmet, I might add some slices of orange or lemon.
posted by lilithim at 9:10 AM on October 12, 2007

Williams-Sonoma and other places sell mulling spices in a little tin. We got one of these as a gift awhile back. The ingredient list looks pretty basic (but the tin would be handy):

"Packed in an airtight tin, it is a perfectly balanced blend of cinnamon, orange zest, clove and allspice."
posted by jquinby at 9:16 AM on October 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Last time I was camping, I used a bottle of port and some spices, and threw in a whole bunch of fruit (orange and apples mostly). Delicious.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:23 AM on October 12, 2007

Get a box of herbal tea with orangey spicey flavors and just put a few bags of that in the wine.
posted by happyturtle at 11:13 AM on October 12, 2007

Penzey's also has great mulling spices.
posted by blueshammer at 11:43 AM on October 12, 2007

Oh, the pumpkin pie spice that I mention looks like -- this.
Shake over simmering wine and it's pretty much instant.
posted by lilithim at 12:12 PM on October 12, 2007

If you don't want a lot of ingredients because you don't want to carry them, you can mull the wine beforehand, strain out the spices, funnel back into bottle and tightly re-cork.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:37 PM on October 12, 2007

Yep, I use Williams Sonoma mulling spices all the time. There are quite a few other brands I've tried & liked too. Saves time & works perfectly. Sometimes they even come in a little muslin bag already.
posted by miss lynnster at 2:20 PM on October 12, 2007

Seconding Penzey's. Or any pre-packaged mulling spices - I have some cheaper ones that come in tea bags and are very portable, though it sometimes helps to double up, portionwise. Add a tablespoon of brown sugar per 8oz of wine. To continue to get fancier (and less portable), add whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, slices of apple and orange, and a splash of ruby port, and you have yourself an easy cozy wintertime treat.
posted by myrrh at 2:32 PM on October 12, 2007