Picture Recipe | Gluehwein / Mulled Wine

Gluehwein | Mulled Wine

A perfect winter warmer “Gluehwein” which heats up your body from the inside out. Sipping on a warm / hot Gluehwein in front of an open fire… a perfect winter evening at home.

Gluehwein is a German word and roughly translates to “glow-wine” – from the hot irons once used for mulling. Very popular in German speaking countries and is traditionally offered during Christmas holidays (Yuletide).

The oldest documented Gluehwein tankard (a form of drink-ware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver, pewter, or glass, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic or leather. Tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. Tankards are shaped and used similarly to beer steins) is attributed to Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen, a German nobleman who was the first grower of Riesling grapes.

This gold-plated lockable silver tankard is dated to c. 1420.

Gluehwein is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, citrus, sugar and at times vanilla pods. It is sometimes drunk “mit Schuss” (with a shot), which means that rum or some other liquor has been added.

Another popular variant of Gluehwein in Germany is the Feuerzangenbowle. It shares the same recipe, but for this drink a rum-soaked sugarloaf is set on fire and allowed to drip into the wine. (Source: Wikipedia)