Contents
Description
Mulled wine or glintvine (it. glühender Wein) – hot, flaming wine.
This is a very delicious alcoholic hot drink based on red wine, heated to 70-80°C with sugar and spices. It is traditional in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic during Christmas’s mass celebrations.
First mentions of recipes, similar to mulled wine beverages, you can find even in Ancient Rome record. The wine they mixed with spices but didn’t heat it. And only during the Middle Ages in Europe, there appeared a real hot mulled wine. The drink got the basis of claret or Burgundy with grass galangal.
Perfect for mulled wine is semi-dry and dry red wines, although there are recipes in which people add rum or brandy. In Germany, they established standards based on which the alcohol content should not be less than about 7. The main methods of preparation of mulled wine are with water or without.
Without water, bartenders cook mulled wine by conventional heating of the wine(between 70 and 78°C) with spices and sugar. Heating the wine over medium heat, stirring occasionally, leaves it to infuse for 40-50 mins. Usually, in mulled wine, they add cloves, lemon, cinnamon, honey, anise, ginger, and allspice and black pepper, cardamom, Bay leaf. Also, they can add raisins, nuts, apples.
So the mulled wine was not very strong. You can use water while cooking it. In the tank, you should boil the water (150-200 ml of water per liter of wine) and add spices, boil for a bit until you feel the aroma of essential oils. After that, add sugar or honey and only at the very end pour in the wine.
In any of the ways of mulled wine preparation, in any case, you should not bring it to a boil. Otherwise, it will instantly lose its basic taste qualities and reduces the alcohol content. Also, do not allow excessive use of spices. You will ruin the drink.
Mulled wine can be soft as well. Such as cardamom. To do this, mix one-third of a teaspoon of cardamom, 2-star anise 5-6 cloves buds, one-third teaspoon cinnamon, floor ginger root, cut into slices, and nutmeg on the tip of a knife. Grape juice (1 liter) connect with orange or cranberry juice (200-300 ml) and heat until the appearance of small bubbles. Throw in pre-mixed seasonings and leave it to infuse for about 15 minutes until the spices begin to give off a fragrance. Add a few slices of lemon or Apple, honey, or sugar to taste.
Mulled wine is best in ceramic mugs or high large glasses of thick glass with a large handle.
The benefits of mulled wine
That mulled wine is useful, virtually no one disputes. People even believed that those who drank wine with spices during the plague were not ill this deadly disease. Mulled wine – the perfect remedy for the flu, bronchitis, various kinds of colds, inflammation of the lungs. It can be good for recovery after infectious diseases, mental and physical exhaustion, and increase the level of interferon in the blood, strengthen the immune system, and recuperate.
Red wine – a wonderful antiseptic, has an antimicrobial effect. It fills the body with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
Spices – cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, curry, turmeric, star anise – have warmed and toning properties to improve blood circulation.
If you cook mulled wine with lemon or Aronia, it is possible to raise the body’s vitamin C level significantly.
Scientific research
Danish scientists have proven that red wine can extend a person’s life. Thanks to the flavonoids, it significantly improves the cardiovascular system and resveratrol, which increases life expectancy. Substances of the grapes, through which the vine a long time dying, activates the enzyme, influencing the gene of aging.
Scientists from the Nrevealnds reveal that the antioxidants that contain wine even contribute to Alzheimer’s disease reducing stroke risk. It is good to prevent blood clots formation, increase the diameter of blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and excrete cholesterol.
Italian scientists have found that red and white wines effectively destroy streptococcal infections that cause sore throat, pharyngitis, dental caries. Wine can help in weight correction. There is even a wine diet – diet Shelta. The fact that the substances contained in wine can adjust insulin levels to maintain the stomach’s desired acidity, positively affect digestion, and reduce the risk of kidney stones.
The dangers of mulled wine and contraindications
Do not drink more than 2 glasses in one night because the mulled wine still contains alcohol, and the number of spices can cause indigestion.
You should not use the mulled wine if you belong to insulin-dependent diabetics, and the use of a large number of hot wines can cause headaches.
It is not recommended to drink alcoholic mulled wine for pregnant and nursing women, underaged children, and the people in front of the vehicle and complex technology and machinery.
