One of the best things about winter in Europe is the Christmas markets. There’s nothing like putting on your parka and heading down to the Christmas market for a sausage and a cup of hot mulled wine. Unfortunately, if it is not winter, or you live outside of Europe, you’ll have to make hot mulled wine at home. This is my Ukrainian mulled wine which uses a little bit of Medivka, or honey liquor.
While your standard mulled wine uses red wine, I like to make it with dry white wine as well. As I’m putting in honey liquor I felt a white is better suited for this recipe. You can also use spicy horilka (pertsivka) if you really want to kick it up a notch.
This mulled wine recipe can be adjusted to suit your spice preferences, but I’d give it a try like this first. If you’ve never had hot mulled wine before you are in for a treat! Some of the best recipes on this site are Ukrainian so a place with such a rich food culture usually also has a rich booze culture as well!
When picking a bottle of white wine, I would look for something dry. We are adding sugar and some orange juice which are both sweet so a dry wine is a better choice. You’ll also need to find a bottle of medivka, which is easy if you have an expansive liquor store. If not you can make your own at home using this recipe I found on Chowhound.
Ukrainian Mulled Wine Ingredients
- 1 bottle (750 ml) Dry White Wine. You don’t need anything fancy since you’re going to cook it. I’d argue go for the cheapest dry white you can find.
- 125 ml Orange Juice; no pulp.
- 4 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 6-10 Cloves; adjust to your taste preference.
- 1 tsp Nutmeg; freshly grated.
- 1 tsp Cardamom
- 2 curls Cinnamon; ripped. I would refrain from using pre-grated or powdered cinnamon for this recipe. As I did this the day after I came back from Sri Lanka I had tons of great quality cinnamon with me. Try to use real Ceylon cinnamon if you can.
- 100 ml Medivka (Honey Vodka). Either store bought or your own infusion.
Ukrainian Mulled Wine
Equipment
- Pot
Ingredients
- 750 ml Dry White Wine nothing expensive
- 125 ml Orange Juice
- 4 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 6 Cloves or more to taste
- 1 tsp Nutmeg grated
- 1 tsp Cardamom ground
- 2 sticks Cinnamon ripped. Make sure to get real cinnamon, not cassis cinnamom. Authentic cinnamom bark should be easily rip-able.
- 100 ml Medivka
Instructions
- Add the Wine and Orange Juice to a pot on low flame and slowly bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, add all the spices and Medivka and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- In 4 cups/mugs add a tbsp of brown sugar each, along with a wedge or two of lemon. Pour over the mulled wine. Serve with a thin spoon so the drinkers can mix up the sugar more if they want.
