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    Home Β» Recipes Β» Drinks

    Ginger Mulled Wine

    Published: Oct 18, 2016 Β· Modified: Jul 3, 2020 by Alyssa Β· This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Ginger mulled wine is an easy, warmly-spiced drink that will fill your kitchen with a wondrous aroma. This cozy, semi-homemade version features a spice shortcut with a kick from fresh ginger.

    Two clear glass mugs of mulled wine garnished with a cinnamon stick on the rim with an apple in the background

    If the hot summer temperatures mean we get to have mango peach white sangria, then this time of year must be calling for sangria's antithesis: mulled wine.

    For one, the smell. With warm mulling spices like cinnamon, cloves, and allspice simmering away along with wine and/or apple cider on the stovetop, there's zero chance your kitchen isn't smelling good. It's an easy drink to keep warmed on the stove to serve your guests, and instantly turns even an impromptu hang-out sesh into a cozy and inviting get-together.

    Mulled wine, a fall and wintertime entertaining MVP.

    Recipe ingredients

    This ginger mulled wine recipe includes a quick spice shortcut along with some fresh flavor love for a semi-homemade recipe that can easily be customized to your liking.

    The base mixture here is equal parts red wine and apple cider, so it's a bit lower in alcohol than some varieties out there that are more wine-heavy, or also include liquor like brandy. Each iteration of this mulled wine I think I might experiment with adding brandy but chicken out. It might be reserved in this household for sangria or Italian fig cookie filling only.

    My favorite red wine variety (currently, at least) is Cabernet Sauvignon, so that's what I use in mulled wine and highly recommend. It works because it's on drier side as far as red wines go, which matches up well with the sweetness in apple cider.

    Besides Cabernet Sauvignon, other reds that are drier or have a medium dryness are Merlot, Malbec, or Shiraz.

    Dried mulling spices scattered on a marble board next to whole cinnamon sticks and a glass jar of wine

    A time-saving tip

    There are plenty of recipes for mulled wine and mulled cider out there that call on you to create our own spice bundles, which, I mean, fun! How festive.

    Buuuut when it comes to mulled wine, I opt to go with a few tablespoons from a store-bought mulling spice packet. I feel like that might be controversial and I may have to hand in my foodie card or something, but let me tell you why.

    Mulled wine only makes its appearance sparingly throughout the season when I'm entertaining, so the thought of buying jars of cardamom pods, star anise, and whole cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and dried orange peel (aka spend some $ dough $) on top of apple cider and wine wasn't the most appealing to me.

    I buy a packet of pre-made mulling spices in my regular grocery store for just a few dollars and with using two or so tablespoons at a time, it will be more than enough to last all mulled wine and apple cider season long.

    An overhead picture of two mugs of mulled wine garnished with cinnamon sticks. There are fresh apples next to the mugs and one mug has a spoon in it

    And now for my favorite part of this whole easy entertaining drink recipe - ginger. Grating fresh ginger and allowing it to simmer alongside the spices gives this ginger mulled wine a spicy kick, as only ginger can.

    In firming up this recipe I felt a bit like Goldilocks. The first time I used a lesser amount of sliced ginger (not grated) and didn't find the ginger flavor to be strong enough. The second time I used grated ginger, but maybe a little bit TOO much. 🎶 Hurts so good, come on baby make it hurt so good... 🎶

    The third time? Just right. You'll definitely taste a bite from the ginger, but it's not overpowering. That said, I recommend this recipe to those who indeed like ginger as it makes itself known. It adds a warming kick to a traditionally-spiced mulled wine recipe that will no doubt be welcome once the temperatures dip down.

    Recipe notes

    • Use a red wine on the drier to medium-dry side as that counterbalances the sweetness from the apple cider.
    • If you'd like to use a homemade mulling spice, please go right ahead! Store-bought mulling spice works just fine here and is the more cost-effective version.
    Two clear glass mugs of mulled wine garnished with cinnamon sticks

    Ginger Mulled Wine

    Ginger mulled wine is an easy, warmly-spiced drink that will fill your kitchen with a wondrous aroma. This cozy, semi-homemade version features a spice shortcut with a kick from fresh ginger.
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    Course: Drinks
    Cuisine: European
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 35 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 156kcal
    Author: Alyssa

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups red wine on the drier side (see note)
    • 2 cups apple cider
    • 3 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger, packed
    • 2 tablespoon orange peel
    • 2 tablespoon mulling spices
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    Instructions

    • Stir together all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat on low-medium heat until mixture is bubbling.
    • Once bubbling, adjust heat to let simmer for at least a half hour (or longer). Strain before serving.

    Notes

    Red wine: Dry to medium-dry red wines work well here, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Shiraz.
    Fresh ginger flavor: If after simmering you find the ginger flavor to be too strong, you can add equal quantities of wine and cider and heat to slightly dilute. That said if you're not sure on how you'll feel about ginger's bite here, I suggest starting with a smaller quantity of grated ginger and tasting throughout to see if you'd like to add more.
    Yield: This recipe yields one quart (four cups) of mulled wine in total, but can easily be scaled up or down as needed.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cup | Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.7g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 264mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 14.5g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.9mg
    Tried this Recipe?Tag @mysequinedlife - I love to see what you're making!

    Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

    Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer

     

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    Comments

    1. Rosie says

      October 20, 2016 at 12:08 pm

      Mulled wine and mulled cider are my favourite things about winter, love that this has both in! The freshly grated ginger addition sounds great too!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 20, 2016 at 1:25 pm

        They're both great! Thanks Rosie. πŸ™‚

        Reply
    2. Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven says

      October 20, 2016 at 7:44 am

      I still have yet to try mulled wine but this seriously looks SO amazing, Alyssa! I think I need to make this for our next fam get-together!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 20, 2016 at 1:24 pm

        Thanks Sarah! It's definitely a crowd pleaser!

        Reply
    3. Kelly says

      October 19, 2016 at 12:42 pm

      I can just imagine how AMAZING this made your house smell! I love all these cozy fall flavors and would love to curl up with a mug!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 19, 2016 at 2:01 pm

        Thanks Kelly! πŸ™‚

        Reply
    4. Ashley - The Recipe Rebel says

      October 19, 2016 at 8:55 am

      Oh this looks SO good! I can just imagine sipping on a big mug of this in front of the fire on a snowy night!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 19, 2016 at 2:03 pm

        Thanks Ashley! I certainly don't want to rush the cold weather, but that scenario sounds wonderful!

        Reply
    5. Ashley@CookNourishBliss says

      October 18, 2016 at 2:38 pm

      Okay this is going to sound nuts but I only had mulled cider for the first time last year! And the smell alone! So good! This mulled wine sounds wonderful!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 19, 2016 at 2:08 pm

        It took me forever to actually have a warm mulled beverage for some reason, too, but once I did - I was like whoa! What was I missing? Haha

        Reply

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