Mulled Wine with Honey

This time of year, who doesn't want something warm, sweet and alcoholic to chase away the chill of winter ? When I was creating a feast for our Game of Thrones Thanksgiving, there was a recipe in the cookbook I used as a reference for mulled wine. Of course, I had made mulled wine before, but I haven't for many years. Why ? I am not really sure, because I have very fond memories of it.

And, we have a LOT of wine at our house. We make it ! Mead actually, although for this recipe any red, not too sweet wine will work. And it's so easy, you can experiment with whatever spice blend you prefer. This recipe might seem like it made an enormous batch of beverages, but trust me on this, you will drink it all !

Mulled Wine with Honey

3 bottles dry red wine

3 cups apple cider

1 cup honey

2 oranges, cut in half

1 lemon, cut in half

3 cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves

3 whole allspice berries

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 cardamom pod

1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns

Pour wine, cider and honey into a large pot. Squeeze oranges and lemon juice into the liquids, being careful to remove any seeds. Place orange and lemon rinds in the liquid mixture. Toss the cinnamon sticks into the pot, and make a small cheesecloth pouch with the remaining spices. Heat over low heat for 30-40 minutes until warm and fragrant. Pour into mugs and garnish with an orange slice.