Margaret, my grandma, enjoyed hosting parties. This was one of her go-to drinks on chilly, windy, wet days. It’s always a tremendous hit when we offer it, and we normally serve it around the holidays. Serve with nutmeg flecks if desired.
| Prep Time: | 5 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ lemon
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick
- 1 (1.5 liter) bottle red wine
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan; dissolve sugar in water. Stir in lemon quarter, cloves, and cinnamon into water; boil for 10 minutes. Strain and return to saucepan.
- Stir red wine into water-sugar mixture; heat until piping hot, but not boiling, about 5 minutes.
- To heat the wine without boiling it and to keep it hot, I often pour it into a slow cooker and add the strained spiced water there.
Reviews
I used the claret shown in the photo and it was way too strong. So we cut in about 200ml water and about 1/2 cup orange juice. Now it tastes right.
I made as written for it but decided to add star anise to this one. It was ok but better as written. This was heavy on the cloves for me but hubby liked it a lot.