Recipe for Mulled Wine

With the Christmas Season in full swing in Madrid and the recent drop in temperature we thought it would be the perfect time to share our recipe for mulled wine, or vino caliente.

Recipe:
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 seville orange
- 1 star anise*
- 4-6 cloves
- 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of aniseed
- 6 tbsp sugar - or to your liking
- 2 bottles of Garnacha (no need to be fancy!)

Firstly add all the spices except for the cinnamon (ground and stick) to a tea infuser. Then either add your Garnacha to a saucepan or to your slowcooker (on a low setting) followed by the tea strainer containing the beautiful spices and the cinnamon stick and powder. Bring it gently to heat.

Next give the oranges a good roll to help release all the juices and cut into wedges. Squeeze the juice into the warming spiced wine and throw in the rest of the oranges. Now add your sugar, this should be to your own taste but 6 tbsps was welcomed by those who tasted our vino caliente. Once brought to the correct temperature let cook for at least 15 minutes.

*Star anise: as this may be difficult to source in Spain another option is to use Chai Tea to replace the spices. This option would contain some caffeine.