Mulling your own wine

“Christmas time. Mistletoe and wine.”

Cliff, you were right, Chistmas isn’t complete without its share of wine, but it’s bumped up to a new festive level when the wine is of the mulled variety.

Last week we made the brave decision to cook for ten of our friends. As it was (fairly) close to Christmas at the time, we decided to go all out. We downloaded at least 100 festive tunes for the iPod, although in the end, we ended up listening to the ten Love Actually ones on repeat anyway.

We decided to serve up some mulled wine before dinner too, because that’s what adults do.

Not only is our Shanowen kitchen no more than a thin strip of lino with an oven and sink, but cooking has never been a strong point for either of us. This was all a bit of a challenge. We can hardly make toast between us, and are both stoney broke meaning our home-brewing had to be done on a very tight budget.

Not to worry though, mulling your own wine is easy, cheap and fun. And it leaves your kitchen smelling of Christmas. If you’re thrifty like us, you can leave the half-empty saucepan sitting in your kitchen for a few days to allow the smell to really permeate the room. No more €3.99 Glade Festive Scents needed this holiday season.

Don’t fear if you don’t have many resources at your disposal. Mulling can be done anywhere that there is a large saucepan and a hob. And some festive cheer.

What you need is (serves 8-10)

• 2 bottles of fruity red wine (any red wine will do really, we used €5.85 bottles from Aldi)

• One large orange

• At least ten cloves

• Cinnamon

• Allspice

• Cinnamon sticks

• Cupful of brown or plain sugar (we used half and half)

• Nutmeg (optional)

• Large Saucepan

• Large spoon, or ladle if you’re that way inclined

• iPod with festive tunes, or Ryan Tubridy’s dulcet tones on the Late Late Toy Show

And how to do it

1. Stud the orange with the cloves, and cut into thick slices.

2. Pour the wine into the saucepan and heat on a low to medium heat (around 2 or 3).

3. Add clove studded orange and all other ingredients to taste. Just throw (or place) them in the pot, you don’t need to do any extensive measuring or chopping. If you are making it for friends, best to but an extra bit of sugar in to counteract the bitterness of the wine, and don’t put too much cinnamon in because it can be an acquired taste.

4. Leave gently heating for 20 minutes. It will take a while to heat up, but this is all part of the plan. Whatever you do, DON’T LET IT BOIL. This is the cardinal sin of mulling, according to Trudi’s mammy. It removes the alcohol from the wine and makes it taste bad, so be careful.

5. The orange will become infused with wine and everything will smell delicious.

6. After 20 minutes of mulling, turn the heat up for two or three minutes just to heat it up a little before serving. But if you see bubbling, rewind immediately. Bubbling is a sure sign of boiling.

7. Serve, using a ladle, into cups and get into the holiday mood.

Mulling wine is a skill that will impress parents and friends alike. How many university students can use the phrase, “Yeah, mulled it freshly myself only moments ago.” It is so easy to do and a really inexpensive way to get into the Christmas mood. You can do it again and again because all you need to re-buy is the wine and an orange - spices and cinnamon sticks will last in a cupboard for at least a year.