Glögg, gløgg, glög and similar words are the designation of mulled wine in the Scandinavian countries, in particular: Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Estonia. In Runet, for some reason, glög is identified with grog, they say, the words are similar, but in fact they are completely different things (grog is a warming drink based on rum and tea, while glög is a drink based on wine, spices, nuts and dried fruits, which, as you should understand, does not distinguish it from classic mulled wine).
In Norway and Denmark, this drink is called gløgg, in Sweden and Iceland – glögg, in Finland and Estonia – glögi. In all these countries, glög is very common and is the official drink of Christmas and many other winter holidays. Its alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions are sold ready-made in Scandinavian countries, in Sweden – in the official Systembolaget alcohol stores, in Finland – in the Alko chain. Also in the markets you can find ready-made sets of spices, nuts and dried fruits for making a favorite drink of harsh northern men and no less harsh women.
In addition to red wine, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger (a constant set of warming spices), bitter orange peels, and, if desired, strong alcohol – port wine, Madeira, brandy, vodka or aquavit are added to the classic alcoholic glög. Preparing a drink is quite simple: spices are boiled in water, then wine (fruit juices, if this is a non-alcoholic version) and strong alcohol are poured.
Glög is traditionally served with raisins, roasted almonds and ginger snaps. The Swedes savor the drink with gingerbread and a treat they refer to as “lussebullar” (also lussekatter – a sweet bun with raisins and saffron). In Norway, it is served with rice pudding, in Denmark, strawberry marmalade.
There are a lot of glög recipes, both with white wine and red, modern versions are also made on the basis of hot cider. We offer you two drink recipes, alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
Classic alcohol glög recipe
We need:
- 1 bottle of red dry wine;
- 100 g brown or white sugar;
- Xnum g raisins;
- 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon, and preferably 1-2 sticks;
- zest of one orange;
- 50 g of peeled crushed almonds;
- 50-100 ml of vodka/cognac/aquavit.
Preparation:
Pour the wine into a saucepan of a suitable size, add spices, raisins and zest there. We heat it up to 60-70 ° C, add sugar, mix well until it is completely dissolved. Let the glög sweat on the fire for 20-30 minutes, and then leave it alone for 30-60 minutes so that the drink is infused. Before serving, we will heat it up to the required temperature and add a glass or two of strong alcohol. Scandinavian mulled wine is ready.
If you add tea, rum and lemon zest, that is, grog, to the drink, then you will end up with red wine punch. From spices, you can also add about 10 stars of cloves, star anise, 2-3 boxes of cardamom, a little finely chopped ginger. Various herbs are also very well suited: thyme, oregano, lemon balm, lemon and peppermint. Strong alcohol can be mixed, that is, for example, pour 50 ml of vodka / aquavit and 50 ml of cognac.
Recipe for non-alcoholic jar
We need:
- 300 ml of concentrated grape or blackcurrant juice;
- 700 ml of water;
- 1-4 cinnamon sticks;
- 1,5 tsp cardamom seeds;
- almonds and raisins – to taste;
- sugar – to taste;
- ginger, orange peel – to taste.
Preparation:
If concentrated juice is used, which is not typical for Russia, then spices (cinnamon and cardamom, ginger and orange / orange peel) should first be boiled in water, and then juice should be added. If ordinary juice is used, then the spices are heated directly with it (for this you need to take 1 liter of juice, without water!) to 60-70 ° C. It is best to use blackcurrant juice and grape juice, you can also add a little apple juice, but it is better to mix all three. Once the spiced juice has been heated to the correct temperature, it should be tasted and sweetened if required.
Non-alcoholic glög can be served immediately or later, letting it brew for 15-20 minutes. Before pouring it into glasses / cups, you can first put some almonds (whole peeled or sliced) and raisins. Bon Appetit!