Mulled Wine

Since winter is in full swing here in Boston (reports are saying we should expect 12 inches of snow tomorrow), I thought a warm festive drink might be fun to try!  A mulled wine filled with spices, orange flavors and honey sounded just right.

Ina Garten has a pretty good mulled wine recipe, but I also found a similar second recipe which looked to have some potential.  After "mulling" over some other recipes, I settled on a combination of both.  This mulled wine recipe is mostly based on the following three ingredients: wine, brandy and apple cider for sweetness:

Hopefully you will find this wine as tasty as I did.  Also, I hope your holidays were filled with family and happiness and I wish everyone a Happy New Years!

Ingredients:
- 1 bottle (750 ml) of red wine (e.g. carmenere or cabernet sauvignon)
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 all spice
- 1 orange zested and sliced

Recipe:
1) Combine wine, apple cider and brandy in a stock pot. 

2) Zest the orange and add to the pot.

3) Add cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and all spice pieces to the wine mixture. Add slices of orange.

4) Heat mixture slowly to just before boiling. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, use a colander to strain away the oranges and spices.  

Serve the mulled wine warm with some fresh orange slices!