White mulled wine
Dry white wine warmed with orange, lemon, cinnamon and star anise. A lighter take on mulled wine, for six.
- Time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Glass
- Heatproof glass
- Strength
- 2 UK units
How to make white mulled wine
- Warm the spices and sugar. Put the sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, ginger and half the sliced orange and lemon in a saucepan with 100 ml of the wine. Warm gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the wine. Pour in the rest of the wine and the brandy if you are using it. Heat on the lowest setting.
- Keep it below a simmer. Warm it for 10 to 15 minutes. You should see steam and a few tiny bubbles at the edge, but not a rolling boil. If it boils, take it off the heat for a minute.
- Taste and adjust. Taste a spoonful. Add sugar a teaspoon at a time if it is too sharp, or a squeeze of lemon if it is too sweet.
- Ladle and serve. Ladle into heatproof glasses through a strainer or spoon to keep the spices out. Add a fresh orange slice and a star anise to each glass.
- Glass
- Heatproof glassNo heatproof glass? A mug works just as well.
- Ice
- No ice
- Garnish
- A slice of orange and a star anise in each glassOr: A cinnamon stick.
What you need to make white mulled wine
Kit
SaucepanBig enough to hold the whole batch.
LadleFor serving from the pan.
Vegetable peelerFor wide strips of peel with little pith.
Bottles we'd use
- A dry, fruity white winePinot Grigio or an unoaked Chardonnay. You do not need anything expensive.Find it on Amazon
- Whole mulling spicesCinnamon, star anise and cloves, whole rather than ground. Ground spices turn the wine cloudy.Find it on Amazon
Links to Amazon are affiliate links: if you buy through them, Bar Bandol may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The white mulled wine story
Spiced, warmed wine has a long history in Europe, from medieval hippocras to German Glühwein. Red wine is the usual choice, and white versions are a modern variation with no documented single origin. It is sometimes called weisser Glühwein in Germany.
White wine gives a lighter, fresher drink, so the spices need a lighter hand. Keep the pan below a simmer. Boiling dulls the fruit and makes the spices bitter. Taste before serving and add sugar a spoon at a time.
White mulled wine: your questions answered
What is in white mulled wine?
White mulled wine is made with a bottle of dry white wine, an orange, a lemon, 60 g caster sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 star anise and 6 cloves, which makes 6 glasses. Garnish: a slice of orange and a star anise in each glass.
How strong is white mulled wine?
Made to this recipe, white mulled wine contains about 2 UK units of alcohol per glass. That is worked out from typical bottle strengths, so it changes with the bottles you use. UK guidelines advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week.
What glass do you serve white mulled wine in?
Serve white mulled wine in a heatproof glass. No heatproof glass? A mug works just as well.
