mulled drinks are hot alcoholic beverages that use sweetener and mulling spices such as cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and black pepper. Mulled drinks are found throughout the world and are often considered medicinal or festive. They are served during fall and winter solstices and during popular winter holidays such as Christmas. Though they may use a range of alcoholic beverages as the base, from beer to fortified wines, mulled drinks generally use wine or cider as the base and incorporate further fortification through spirits such as brandy or aquavit. Often the type of alcoholic beverage and spirits used are culturally determined. For instance, in Brazil, Quentão de Vinho is a mulled drink using Brazilian cachaça as the base. In England, Wassail is made with cider. Some additional examples of mulled drinks include the German Glühwein, Scandinavian Glögg/Gløg, and French Vin Chaud.
Though mulling is thought to originate in the sixteenth century as a dessert beverage, with the term mulling indicating grinding (as in spices), similar mulled drinks date back to the first century, when a Roman gourmand Apicus wrote of “conditum paradoxum,” a white wine with honey, saffron, mastica, and black pepper. Other mulled-style drinks date to early medieval times and use the names Hippocras Gyle, Pimen, or Piment. Hippocras is a reference to the straining method used to strain the spices, a large sieve called a manicum Hippocratum, or the “sleeve of Hippocrates.”
Recipe (Mulled Wine): Tie 1 tsp. (5 ml) crushed star anise pods, 2 tsp. (10 ml) cloves, and 2 cinnamon sticks, broken, together in a cheesecloth, making a spice bag. Bring 1 750-ml bottle of red wine, 1 cup (250 ml) water, 1 orange deseeded and sliced, 1/2 cup (125 ml) turbinado sugar, and the spice bag to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Optional: remove from heat, add 1 cup (250 ml) dark rum or brandy, stir, and return to heat. Remove the spice bag. Serve warm in handled mug garnished with an orange slice and cinnamon stick. Serves eight.
See also glögg.
Day, Ivan. “More on Hippocras” (1977). Historic Food. http://www.historicfood.com/Hippocras%20Recipes.htm (accessed February 21, 2021).
“Medieval Mulled Wine.” Medieval Histories, December 9, 2015. https://www.medieval.eu/medieval-mulled-wine/ (accessed February 21, 2021).
By: Derek Brown