Mulling Spices for Apple Cider Recipe

1. Place cinnamon sticks and nutmeg into a heavy freezer bag.
2. Pound the spices with the bottom of a small heavy skillet or kitchen mallet to break them into small pieces.
3. Place the spices in a bowl and stir in the orange peel, lemon peel, allspice, cloves, and ginger.
4. Place about 2 tablespoons of the spice mixture in the center of a 5-inch square of double-layer cheesecloth (will use about 14 squares).
5. Tie the cloth securely with string.

Making Mulled Apple Cider or Red Wine

Each bag will spice a 750 ml bottle of red wine (3 1/4 cups) or 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of apple cider.

To make mulled red wine, you just mix in water, sugar, and spices. If you have made up spice packets, you can substitute one for each bottle of wine for the spices in the recipe. 

To make mulled apple cider, all you need is the spices. Just bring the mix to a boil, cover the pot and simmer for about a half an hour.

Best Wine for Mulling

Mulling covers up many of the subtleties of wine, so don't waste money on the really good stuff. Look around on the middle shelves for medium-priced bottles; not too cheap, but not much more than twenty dollars.

You want a big, bold, dry red wine to shine through the mulling so you don't get a mouthful dominated by the spices. Go with a Malbec, Zinfandel, or Syrah/Shiraz. Blends are usually cheaper; a blend of two or even three of these varieties would be a fine choice.