Honey Mulled Wine

December 20, 2024

Mulled wine is a perfect winter warmer to enjoy at any time, not just at Christmas! Our honey mulled wine recipe is a delightfully spicy recipe with a couple of citrus twists, and of course, sweetened with our finest honey.

The recipe is made with a standard sized 75cl bottle of red wine, while you can choose any wine to 'mull' not all wines that you might usually enjoy work so well when making mulled wine. We'll make some suggestions at the end for specific wines that are available for a reasonable price, but in my experience the best wines to use are ones that are usually described as 'jammy' and are often found in the 'dessert and sweet' category of wine in online stores. These broad types seem to work the best with the spices, taste great when warm and often have notes of vanilla and berries that combine really well with the ingredients we'll be adding.

To make Honey Mulled Wine you will need:

1 Bottle Red Wine (75cl)
2 Small Oranges
1 Lemon
2 Cinnamon Sticks
2 Whole Star Anise
5 Whole Cloves
2 tbsp of Just Bee Honey

1 Large Saucepan

Step One: Oranges and Lemons

Using a sharp knife slice the lemon and one of the oranges into rounds around 1cm thick, add them to the bottom of the pan.

With the remaining orange, cut off the zest in thin slices add that to the pan and then squeeze the juice into the pan too.

Step Two: Lets Get Spicy

Add the whole cinnamon sticks, star anise and cloves. It's important to use whole spices, don't be tempted to add ground cinnamon or cloves.

Step Three: Red Red Wine

Add the whole bottle of wine to the saucepan and start to heat gently on the hob over a very low heat.

Step Four: Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

As the mulled wine is gently warming add 2 tablespoons of honey, stir in gently until it dissolves from the spoon.

Step Five: A Little More Heat

Turn up the hob to a medium heat and warm the wine until you see the first tiny little bubbles appear on the surface, then reduce the heat to it's lowest and leave the mulled wine gently warming like this for 5 minutes. It's then ready to serve!

Step Six: The Best Possible Taste

Before serving you can make adjustments for your own personal tastes. If it's not spicy enough for you then you can leave it on a low heat for up to 5 minutes longer. I would not recommend any longer than this as the mulled wine will become very spicy. In turn that can overpower the taste of the wine and it may also start to become a little too 'medicinal' tasting.

If you would like it sweeter you can stir though another teaspoon or two of extra honey. I wouldn't recommend any more as it can become too syrupy quite quickly. This recipe isn't too sweet and it's better that way. If it's your first time making mulled wine I wouldn't recommend making any adjustments until you've tried it first.

Mulled wine is best served ladled into large mugs with an orange round from the pan as garnish. If you need to save some of the wine for another day, then strain the wine so it doesn't continue to get spicier, pop it in the fridge and reheat gently later.

Suggested Wines Under £10

Buenas Vides Jammy Argentina Red 75cl - £5.99 Available at Aldi

Bodacious Vinho 75cl - £7.50 Available at Asda

Apothic Red 75Cl - £9.00 Available at Tesco

McGuigan Estate Merlot 75cl - £5.50 Available at Sainsbury's

These are all choices we've tried and enjoyed but they are only suggestions, feel free to try any of your preferred wines. If in doubt go with a nice bottle of Merlot that suits your budget and you won't go wrong.