Mulled wine is a European concept which is usually, but not necessarily, made with red wine along with various spices for mulling the beverage & occasionally fruit such a citrus & candied raisins or peel. all sweetened with sugar or honey. Sometimes cider or ale is used instead of wine & a non alcoholic version is usually made with apple juice. It is considered to be a warming festive winter drink with Christmas & Halloween associations. It is not a modern phenomenon. Wine was first recorded as spiced & heated in 2nd Century Rome. As Roman civilisation spread across Europe through conquest & colonial expansion & trade, so the legions brought their culture with them. The legions brought wine & viticulture with them up to the Rhine & Danube rivers & to the Scottish border, along with their recipes. The Forme of Cury, a medieval English cookery book from 1390, attributed to the Court or Richard the Second mentions mulled wine, saying: Pur fait Ypocras … & lists the grinding together of cinnamon, ginger, galangal, cloves, long pepper, nutmeg, marjoram, cardamom & grains of paradise (spykenard de Spayn, rosemary may be substituted). This is then mixed with red wine & sugar & brought to a low heat but not boiled. Ingredients in Mulled Wine Spice Blend: - Lemon Peel Orange Peel Cassia Bark Nutmeg Clove Cinnamon Allspice Mulled Wine Spice - 100 Grams
