Mulled Wine

Ingredients

• 2 bottles of cheap, fruity red wine
• 2 oranges
• 150 g caster sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, bruised
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 ml brandy

Method

1. Make a spiced syrup first

   Pare the zest from one orange and put it in a pan with the sugar, all the spices, the bay and just enough wine to cover — about 250 ml. This is the step almost everyone skips, and it is the one that matters.

2. Boil the syrup hard

   Bring it to a rolling boil and let it bubble for 5 minutes until syrupy. Boiling extracts the spices properly, and because it is only a small volume, the alcohol you drive off is negligible.

   5 min

3. Add the rest, and stop boiling

   Pour in the remaining wine and the juice of both oranges, and bring it only to a bare steam. From here it must never boil — you would drive off the alcohol and the wine turns thin and stewed.

   10 min

4. Warm gently and finish

   Hold it just below a simmer for 20 minutes, then stir in the brandy off the heat. Taste for sweetness: cheap wine needs more sugar, better wine needs less.

5. Serve

   Ladle into glasses through a strainer, with a slice of orange. It reheats fine but keep it below a simmer every time.