Mulled Wine | The perfect cold weather recipe + holiday gift

This recipe is made after a lot of R&D by my husband and I -- my favorite thing about mulled beverages is the ability to adjust the recipe to your liking. So, take this as a starting point and if you feel necessary, make adjustments with each batch.

I hate a long-winded intro to a recipe, so let's get down to the nitty gritty:

Ingredients:

- 1 bottle of Bold, fruit-forward red (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, maybe even a big Zinfandel, etc.)

- 1/2 cup Brandy or Bourbon (we use Bulleit Bourbon)

- 2 Cinnamon sticks

- 9-13 Cloves (depending on strength of flavor you prefer)

- 1 Star anise (Feel free to add 2-3 if you are a fan of the flavor. We go light, as it's not our favorite)

- 1/2 Fresh orange, sliced, peel-on

- 1/2 Fresh lemon, sliced, peel-on

- 1/3 cup honey

- 1.5 cups water

There are two ways we make mulled wine. The typical way is to mix everything into the wine, then let it cook together to infuse the spices. However, we find the flavors better and like to avoid burning off the alcohol, as that really rounds out the flavors.

Instructions:

Before you start: you can put all of the ingredients (except for the liquids) into a cheesecloth or muslin bag, to keep it all together, or you can put all of the ingredients in the pot together, free-floating.

1/ Add all the ingredients, except for the wine, to a sauce pan or pot over medium-high heat. The ingredients should all be relatively covered with the 1.5 cups of water. As soon as you start to see steam rising from the pot, reduce the heat to medium. The mixture can be kept at a simmer, or just below. Keep the pot on the heat for 15-20 minutes for the spices to infuse the water concoction (the longer you let the ingredients sit here, the stronger your wine infusion will be). I like to stir frequently to aid in releasing the flavors.

2/ Add the bottle of wine to your pot/saucepan. Turn the heat to low and let it sit for about 10 minutes - you want to warm your beverage and let it sit, to infuse all of the flavors into the wine, without burning off the alcohol. Warm it to a desired drinking temperature (we like it ready-to-drink warm).

3. If you put all of the ingredients in without a bag, straight the beverage out of the pan and serve! Otherwise, just remove the bag, and serve and enjoy!