A heated alcoholic drink made from wine mixed with spices and sweetener, which is traditionally drunk at Christmas markets, especially in northern countries, during the cold season. Such spiced wines were already very popular in the early Middle Ages, as the spices were a good way of covering up common wine faults and making wine that was already more or less spoilt drinkable.
Recipe
An old recipe from the 15th century: Boil 2 litres of old red wine with 375 g of sugar, 1 piece of cinnamon, 6 cloves, the thinly peeled peel of ½ lemon, strain it through a sieve and bring it to the table hot. However, there are countless different recipes. In most cases, however, red wine (or red grape must) is used as the base, to which cinnamon sticks and cloves are added. Oranges and lemons (peel and/or juice), as well as sugar and/or honey are also often used. Boiling allows the alcohol to evaporate relatively quickly; if this is not desired, you can just leave to infuse.
Alcoholic hot drinks
However, there are countless alcoholic hot drinks with just as many fancy names, which are produced in a very similar way with the same or similar ingredients for the purpose of flavouring. If high-proof alcohols such as cognac or brandy, gin, rum, vodka or other spirits are also added, then it is a grog, hunter's tea or punch. There are many country-specific names and recipes for this.
Further information
For the production of alcoholic beverages, see Champagne (sparkling wines), Distillation (distillates), Spirits (types), Winemaking (wines and wine types) and Wine law (wine law issues).
Image left: by Ana Zinsli on Pixabay
Image on the right: from Дарья Яковлева on Pixabay
