Glühwein (Mulled wine).

Ahh, how I love thee.

First tried it in London at Borough Market (i'm not one for touristy spots so i ventured to the markets instead). I kept seeing it being sold here and there and thought, 'why not try it'. I had it with curry, and it was the perfect combination really. The mulled wine wasn't to my liking to be honest, and a better version I had was much sweeter with lower alcohol content at Rhubarb bar in Huddersfield itself yesterday night. I had just worked non-stop from 3.30 til 9.30pm and thought I deserve a drink, glad I did becaue it was lovely. Sweeter than Borough Market's and much, much, lower in alcohol content.

So i fished around online for some recipes, here's one:

To 4 litres of red wine you need:

• Caster sugar (amount proportional to quality of red wine, the worse the wine the more sugar you need, add it to taste, but start with about 2 cups)
• 6 - 8 Cinnamon sticks
• Whole cloves
• 2 Oranges
• Whole allspice
• 2 cups of orange juice
• If you wish to get your friends and yourself tipsy even more quickly, or just to add a little extra kick, add brandy, sweet sherry or port to the mix. (optional but rather tasty)

Method:
Pour the red wine into a large pot and put it on the stove on a very low heat – you must not let the wine boil or the world could end… and that is not something you want to risk...

1. Cut the oranges into slices and then put about 4 cloves into each slice, then put them in with the wine.
2. Break the cinnamon sticks in half or thirds and put them in with the wine as well as 10 of the whole all spice.
3. Add in the sherry or port as well as 2 cups of orange juice.
4. Add in 2 cups of sugar and stir.
5. Stir on and off for about 30 mins to give the spices time to infuse with the wine and for the magic to occur, then taste it, and add more sugar as needed (possible up to 4 or 5 cups more in the wine is really bad).
6. Let it cook/infuse/whatever for about 30 mins more (again, not letting it boil).
7. Drink and be happy :)