We just made your holiday beverage planning easy. Two crowd favorite drinks that are simple to make and complement any holiday feast you will be cooking up.
- Mulled Wine
- Apple Cinnamon Water
There’s something about the warmth of a cocktail during the winter season that makes things festive. For any holiday at my house, you can find mulled wine. It’s truly a crowd favorite.
This cozy drink will become a go to recipe for you in the winter months.
Ingredients:
- 4 Liters of Red Wine
- Caster Sugar (amount proportional to quality of red wine, the worse the wine the more sugar you need, add it to taste, but start with about 2 cups)
- 6 – 8 Cinnamon Sticks
- Whole Cloves
- 2 Oranges
- Whole Allspice
- 2 Cups of Fresh Orange Juice
Method:
- Pour the red wine into a large pot and put it on the stove on a very low heat (the lowest your burner goes) – you must not let the wine boil.
- Cut the oranges into slices and then put about 4 cloves into each slice (just push each clove into the pulpy part of orange slice), then put them in with the wine.
- Break the cinnamon sticks in half or thirds and put them in with the wine as well as 10 of the whole allspice.
- Add in the 2 cups of orange juice.
- Add in 2 cups of sugar and stir.
- Stir on and off for about 30 minutes to give the spices time to infuse with the wine and for the magic to occur, then taste it, and add more sugar as needed (possible up to 4 or 5 cups more in the wine is really bad but if you use Meiomi, 2 cups of caster is probably enough).
- Let it cook and infuse for about 30 minutes more (again, not letting it boil).
- Drink and be happy!
Special tip for hosting for your gathering – Move the wine to a slow cooker on low heat for parties because it can get too hot on the burner and boil. If you need to keep it warm longer than 2ish hours, I would definitely remove the oranges, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, etc from the mulled wine because the flavors will keep infusing the longer it’s heated and will become too strong after a while.
And for a mock tail – this Apple Cinnamon Water is the perfect pick. A drink your littles will love!
Ingredients:
- 1 Gallon of Regular Water or seltzer (personal preference)
- 1 Apple Sliced
- 2-4 Cinnamon Sticks
Method:
Slice the apple into small pieces and place in it a large serving container of your choosing. Place 2-4 cinnamon sticks into the pitcher depending on the intensity of the cinnamon flavor you are wanting. Pour a gallon of water over the apple and cinnamon sticks and stir. Let it sit for 30 minutes then serve at your farm table!
This is an easy drink that looks beautiful in a clear serving dispenser. Regardless of who you will be serving it to, its a delicious beverage option to be shared around your table.
2 festive drinks to spice up your Thanksgiving or Christmas Gatherings this year. If you make them – let us know! Tag @rustictrades in your holiday gathering posts and stories!
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