Cooked wine?

boron

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In my country, cooked wine is heated wine with added water, sugar and cloves. It is served hot, typically on the streets in December.

Anyone familiar with cooked wine? Is there any other term? Popular in America or anywhere else?
 
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mccardey

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In my country, cooked wine is one half wine, one half water, sugar and cloves. It is served hot, typically on the streets in December.

Anyone familiar with cooked wine? Is there any other term? Popular in America or anywhere else?

Mulled wine, we call it. Gorgeous with all that and a few thin slices of lemon or orange. Mmm-mmm...
 
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Shakesbear

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Mulled wine in the UK as well. Cinnamon sticks can be added to the mix and some prefer brown sugar to white. Trick is not to let it boil!
 

areteus

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Mulled wine is the term most commonly used and there are a variety of different spice combos for making it (though usually cloves and cinammon are involved, often also nutmeg).

The German name for it is Gluewein and you can get it from the many Frankfurt markets that appear in the UK over Christmas.
 

shaldna

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In my country, cooked wine is one half wine, one half water, sugar and cloves. It is served hot, typically on the streets in December.

Anyone familiar with cooked wine? Is there any other term? Popular in America or anywhere else?


Mulled wine. Hmmmmm.

When my hubby makes it he doesn't add water or sugar, but he puts in cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. It's nicest when served with slices of dried apple or dried oranges in it.

As a side note, mulled cider is pretty awesome too.
 

boron

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I'm trying to figure out how much alcohol is in mulled wine. If some water is added, and some alcohol evaporates, it may be around 5% alco.
 

shaldna

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I'm trying to figure out how much alcohol is in mulled wine. If some water is added, and some alcohol evaporates, it may be around 5% alco.

I know that we use a red wine at about 14% and we don't add water and don't boil it, so I'd say between 10 and 14 depending on how you make it.

You can buy ready made stuff in M&S which is 8%
 

areteus

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Between 1 and 15% depending on the wine used and how long you heat it for and whether you accidently boil it or not... can't really calculate it, to be honest. I remember two methodists asking at a stall in a farmer's market if it was alcohol free (they wanted to do some for a christmas party at thier church and there are restrictions on alcohol on the premises in Methodist churches) and getting a combination of laughter and vague 'I dunno' answers :)

Though I think if it is sold in pubs it needs to have an official proof listed... I can check next time I buy some (friday, more than likely, as it is officially 'International Gluewein day' then...)
 

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If you allow it to boil, some alcohol will evaporate (anyone else ever lean over a pot with boiling wine? Quite a buzz) but if you do it properly, it should be about the same level as the wine you used. Watering it down seems weird.

We do a type of mulled wine called 'glögg' (glug). Comes from 'glödga' which means heat until it smolders. There are several types but the best is the one around 15%. It's made from stronger red wine (like port) or red wine mixed with stuff like sherry & brandy. Plenty of spices too, of course, and sugar. There is a 'plain wine version' around 8-10 % but it's nowhere near as good. Originally glögg was made by drenching a piece of sugar in brandy and then the brandy was set on fire so the sugar melted into the wine.

And German word is Glühwein, not Gluewein. In France they call their version 'vin chaud' which means 'warm wine'.

ETA: in both Germany and Sweden they used to make a spiced wine punch that was sometimes heated, called 'bischoff'. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge mentions a cup of 'smoking Bishop' which I assume was something similar since it's the same word.
 
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boron

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In countries above the Adriatic Sea, we typically add about 1 cup (240 mL) water to 1 liter wine. Some cheap, dry, 12% wine is used, so after diluting it would be 9%. It's not meant as a desert, but to warm you without getting drunk when you walk around in December evenings.

So, in America, mulled wine is not likely diluted?
 

shaldna

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So, in America, mulled wine is not likely diluted?

Don't know about America, but here we wouldn't dilute it. And I don't know many people who add sugar to it either. That just seems weird.
 

jennontheisland

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Not diluted, not sweetened. Cooked properly to have the same alcohol content as when you started. The intent of it is not to lower the booze level, but to warm and season the wine.
 

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I'm not sure if I'd use the term "cooked". In the wine world this refers to wine that has been spoiled by too much exposure to heat. "Mulled" would be better.
 

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So, in America, mulled wine is not likely diluted?

I don't know about America but in Sweden it's not watered down, it's fortified. We like our booze here. And since it gets pitch-black at 2 pm we don't go out much in December.
 
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Flicka

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Don't know about America, but here we wouldn't dilute it. And I don't know many people who add sugar to it either. That just seems weird.

Well, in Sweden we've done it since at least the 17th century. Strong, sweet amd spicy. If anyone's read 'Tis, the follow-up to Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt goes on about glögg being thick and strong and practically lethal. He blaims the Viking raids on it. Meh. Those Irish simply can't handle a little drink. ;)
 

areteus

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Yes, my German spelling is terrible. This is because my ancestors were not Anglo Saxon but Norman (so my French is better :) ).

There are lots of different recipes - changing the spices, the base beverage, whether you add sugar, whether it is diluted and so on... Basically you can choose what you like :) As for glogg, had that and it is a different taste to mulled wine, probably because of the different base beverage. And maybe because the person who usually makes it also adds a massive shot of something stronger to it :)

From my personal experience of Swedes, they seem to go to extremes. The ones I know don't drink at all very often but when they do, they do it seriously :)
 

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Ah, Glühwein. I remember when I would volksmarch in a German forest in the winter, the volksmarching club would have a pot of the nectar simmering in the forest.

Oh, um, yes, back to the OP: yes, mulled wine.
 

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'Seriously' is true. We don't really have fun when we binge drink but we lose our usually strong inhibitions. Ordinarily, we mustn't show emotion - any emotion - but everything is allowed if you use the excuse of being drunk. This doesn't go for me though, because I also have French ancestors. I just blame my Gallic temprent! ;)

But seriously, I think we use a lot of sugar in everything traditionally. If you ever had Swedish milk chocolate, it's three times as sweet as English and American chocolate. And we love to flavour sauces with vinegar/lemon and sugar. Swedish food has very distinct flavours actualky. I remember when Jamie Oliver was here and he was exalted at what he called our bold flavours.

Sorry for derailing. Mulled wine, hot wine. Those are expression I would use rather than cooked wine.
 

Mark G

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In my country, cooked wine is heated wine with added water, sugar and cloves. It is served hot, typically on the streets in December.

Anyone familiar with cooked wine? Is there any other term? Popular in America or anywhere else?

Gluwein!!!! I love that stuff! It's my favorite part of the Christmas market experience in Germany. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulled_wine
http://www.justhungry.com/2006/12/recipe_gluhwein_mulled_wine_fo.html
http://dreamingofwinter.blogspot.com/2009/08/gluhwein-recipe.html
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art25534.asp

Search Google for "Gluwein" and you'll get tons of hits.
 

heza

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We sometimes dilute and sometimes don't, depending on how strong we want it, whether it's for dinner or a holiday party or just to stay warm while camping. I've always diluted it with OJ, though, and left out the added sugar.

I've heard it called hot wine, mulled wine, and spiced wine.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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This is a pretty typical recipe for a US mulled wine. As you see, it's fortified, not diluted.

For occasions where people want a warm and spicy drink that isn't alcoholic, mulled cider is popular (remember that US cider isn't fermented, so it's alcohol free--it's apple juice with the skins left on in pressing, so it's thicker than ordinary apple juice because of the pectin).
 

Anne Lyle

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We used to sweeten our spiced wine in medieval/Renaissance times, but that may have been because:

1. Sugar was as expensive as spices, and therefore added to the luxuriousness

2. Without airtight containers such as modern bottles, wine went off a lot quicker, so adding sugar and spice would have made it more palatable.

Nowadays, most people just warm their wine with fruit and whole spices. Yum!
 

Flicka

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This is a pretty typical recipe for a US mulled wine. As you see, it's fortified, not diluted.

For occasions where people want a warm and spicy drink that isn't alcoholic, mulled cider is popular (remember that US cider isn't fermented, so it's alcohol free--it's apple juice with the skins left on in pressing, so it's thicker than ordinary apple juice because of the pectin).

Mulled cider is traditionally alcoholic. It's usually made from "real" cider (what the English and French would call cider, anyway) or scrumpy. You can add pureed apples to it and get a frothy version called Lamb's Wool.

Because of this discussion, I dug out a blogpost I once wrote for an old blog and reworked it and slapped it up on my blog. It's basically a description (with recipes) of several traditional hot, alcoholic beverages such as mulled cider, lamb's wool, and bishop, with a few notes on age and variations. It seemed easier than recounting all of it here. If anyone is interested, it's here: Making the Wassail a Swinger