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Warm up from the inside out with this cozy homemade Glühwein recipe. Learn how to make a simple German mulled wine that is perfect for cold winter nights or holiday gatherings and guaranteed to make your home smell absolutely amazing!
What is Glühwein?
I like to call it “Christmas in a cup” but Glühwein is simply German mulled wine. It’s a warm festive drink made from red wine that is simmered with a blend of aromatic spices and citrus.
Like most recipes, there are different regional (and family) variations. It can be served as is or “mit Schuss” – with a shot of hard liquor. Glühwein is typically enjoyed during the cold winter months and a staple at Christmas markets.
Reasons To Love This Glühwein Recipe
- Warm and cozy: There’s nothing quite like wrapping your hands around a steaming mug of Glühwein on a cold winter day to instantly warm you up from the inside out.
- Simple to make: Super easy to make in a pot on the stove!
- Perfect for the holidays: Makes your home smell like Christmas and can easily serve a crowd for holiday gatherings. The perfect drink for the festive season!
- Easy to scale: Make it for a cozy evening at home with your partner or a big holiday party. This recipe is easy to scale to meet your needs!
- Delicious served with something sweet like German Christmas cookies or German Waffles or something savory like grilled bratwurst, schnitzel or frikadellen.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Ready to make some Glühwein? Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:
- Dry Red Wine: Use a dry red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Chianti, Zinfandel or Malbec. No need to splurge on a pricey bottle but choose something decent that you would want to sip on.
- Citrus: The zest and juice of orange and lemon are used in this recipe.
- Mulling Spices: A combination of three warming aromatic spices – cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and star anise.
- Sweetener: Honey, cane sugar or brown sugar.
- Optional Shot: For a stronger drink, add a shot of rum, amaretto, brandy, whisky or Grand Marnier before serving. This is known as Glühwein mit Schuss.
- Optional Garnish: For a nice finishing touch, you can choose to add a garnish. Some garnish ideas include orange or lemon slices, cinnamon sticks and star anise.
Detailed ingredient list and directions located in the recipe card below.
How To Make Glühwein
Learn how to make this simple German mulled wine recipe at home.
STEP 1: Prep citrus. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the orange and lemon in wide strips. Just the orange and yellow part – avoid peeling the pith (white part) as much as possible since it is bitter. Juice the orange and lemon and set the juice aside.
STEP 2: Simmer spiced mixture. In a large saucepan, bring the water and sweetener of choice to a boil until dissolved. Lower the heat to a simmer. Add the spices, orange and lemon zest and juice. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Tip: Pierce the cloves into the strips of orange or lemon zest for easier removal later.
STEP 3: Add wine and steep. Reduce the heat to very low. Add the red wine, cover with a lid and steep for another 5-10 minutes. It should be steaming but don’t allow it to fully simmer or boil! You can check the temperature with a thermometer if unsure – it should be kept below 172F / 78C or the alcohol will evaporate.
STEP 4: Strain and serve. Strain or pull out the spices and citrus zest and ladle into small mugs or heatproof glasses. Add an optional shot (Schuss) and/or garnish if desired. Serve warm and enjoy!
Variations
Want to customize this mulled wine recipe a bit? Feel free to…
- Experiment With Spices: You could also add cardamom pods, vanilla, ginger slices, allspice berries or even black peppercorns.
- Use White Wine: Replace the red wine with a dry white wine.
- Make Blueberry Glühwein: Add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries to the pot in Step 2.
- Make Apple Glühwein: Replace the orange with apple slices. Could also add a splash of apple cider into the mixture instead of the water.
- Add Fruit: Throw in some cranberries, blackberries, cherries or any fruit you like.
Helpful Tips
- Always use whole spices! Don’t use ground ones since they will make the Glühwein cloudy and gritty. Whole spices infuse the wine with flavor and then are easy to strain or fish out.
- Use gentle heat! Do not let the wine boil! Use low heat or you will cook off the alcohol and change the flavor of the wine.
- Don’t overcook the spices! If making ahead of time, strain the spices out after the recommended steeping time and keep warm until ready to serve. Leaving the spices in for too long will cause them to overpower the flavor of the wine.
- Don’t add the citrus pith! The white pith on the orange and lemon can make the Glühwein slightly bitter which is why I recommend just adding the zest and juice instead of slices while simmering.
- Cheesecloth option: You can bundle the citrus zest and spices in cheesecloth for easy removal later instead of straining or fishing out individually.
Storage & Reheating
- Storage: Store leftover Glühwein in a sealed jar or airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. Make sure that it is strained before storing or the wine may become too spiced.
- Reheating: Gently reheat on the stovetop over low heat.
- Keeping It Warm: There are a few ways to keep the mulled wine warm if you are not serving it right away. Once it has been strained, you can put it back in a clean pot on the stove over very low heat or transfer to an Instant Pot or slow cooker on the “Keep Warm” setting. This will keep the Glühwein nice and warm until you are ready to serve. Perfect for entertaining!
A Few Questions Answered
Use a budget friendly dry red wine! It’s not worth spending a ton of money on the wine for this. You want something nice enough that you would enjoy drinking it but not your most expensive bottle. Some varieties that work well include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel and Chianti.
Yes they are both hot spiced wine. Glühwein is just the German term for mulled wine. However, they don’t all taste exactly the same since there are many different variations to choose from.
It translates to “glow wine” which makes sense since it will make you glow with cozy warmth from within on a cold winter night. However, the term actually comes from the glowing hot irons that were once used to heat the wine.
Yes it is since the base is red wine. For a non-alcoholic version, use an alcohol free red wine or make this Kinderpunsch recipe instead!
More Holiday Drinks
Looking for more festive holiday drink recipes? Here are a few more ideas:
- Kinderpunsch (Non Alcoholic Mulled Wine)
- Pomegranate Lime Spritzer
- Orange Spice Mulled Tea
- Limoncello Tonic (not just for summer!)
Did you make this Glühwein recipe? I would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below.
Glühwein (German Mulled Wine)
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: German
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Warm up from the inside out with this cozy homemade Glühwein recipe. Learn how to make a simple German mulled wine that is perfect for cold winter nights or holiday gatherings and guaranteed to make your home smell absolutely amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 orange
- ½ lemon
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup honey, cane sugar or brown sugar (or to taste)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine (see notes)
- Optional shot: rum, amaretto, brandy, whisky or Grand Marnier
- Optional garnish ideas: orange slices, lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, star anise
Instructions
- Prep citrus: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the orange and lemon in wide strips. Just the orange and yellow part – avoid peeling the pith (white part) as much as possible since it can infuse a bitter taste. Juice the orange and lemon and set the juice aside.
- Simmer spiced mixture: In a large saucepan, bring the water and sweetener of choice to a boil until dissolved. Lower the heat to a simmer. Add the cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, star anise, orange and lemon zest and juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Tip: Pierce the cloves into the strips of orange or lemon zest for easier removal later.
- Add wine and steep: Reduce the heat to very low. Add the red wine, cover with a lid and steep for another 5-10 minutes. It should be steaming but don’t allow it to fully simmer or boil! You can check the temperature with a thermometer if unsure – it should be kept below 172F / 78C or the alcohol will evaporate.
- Strain and serve: Strain or pull out the spices and citrus zest and ladle into small mugs or heatproof glasses. For a stronger drink, add a shot before serving. This is known as Glühwein mit Schuss. Garnish if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- Dry red wine: Use a dry red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Chianti, Zinfandel or Malbec. No need to splurge on a pricey bottle but choose something decent that you would want to sip on.
- Always use whole spices! Don’t use ground ones since they will make the Glühwein cloudy and gritty. Whole spices infuse the wine with flavor and then are easy to strain or fish out.
- DO NOT let the wine boil! Use low gentle heat or you will cook off the alcohol and change the flavor of the wine.
- Don’t overcook the spices! If making ahead of time, strain the spices out after the recommended steeping time and keep warm until ready to serve. Leaving the spices in for too long will cause them to overpower the flavor of the wine.
- Keeping it warm: There are a few ways to keep the mulled wine warm if you are not serving it right away. Once it has been strained, you can put it back in a clean pot on the stove over very low heat or transfer to an Instant Pot or slow cooker on the “Keep Warm” setting. This will keep the Glühwein nice and warm until you are ready to serve.
- Cheesecloth option: You can bundle the citrus zest and spices in cheesecloth for easy removal later instead of straining or fishing out individually.
We really enjoy this recipe and always add Grand Marnier – because it’s my dad’s favourite.
I love a good Gluhwein! I’m going to Munich this Christmas, and I cannot wait to get to the Christmas market and sip on some! Love your technique; easy, breezy!! Apparently, a new thing is white gluhwein…- the same aromatics but with white wine.
I have the white version listed under variations. I prefer the red wine myself for this but give it a try!
Gluhwein and I have a sordid history hahaha. I find it irresistible but I have to be very careful with how much I drink. It’s so tasty I just can’t resist! I’m going to make it again at Christmas. One time a year can’t hurt!
haha – I feel like there is a good story here!
I loved the combination of flavours of the citrus and spices with the wine; and perfect for these cool nights.
It’s a great way to warm up!
I love the aromatic spices you have used in combination with the citrus juices and peels. I would like to try them with the non alcoholic version.
One of my favourite drinks and so easy to keep this in the slow cooker when you are having a party.
Wow, first time reading about GLÜHWEIN recipe, very interesting and looks delicious. Definitely will have to make it to try it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sipped on this today. What a treat! Thank you!!
You’re welcome! Happy you enjoyed it!
This is a classic drink and it’s absolutely delicious. A perfect Christmas drink.
I completely agree! I’m so glad that you loved my version
This is such a cozy mulled wine recipe with incredible flavors and just the right amount of sweetness.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!