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As we prepare for the second historic snowstorm of the week, it's time to remember what's really important in life: Mulled wine. Tomorrow, I intend to raid wine stores, again (insofar as they are still open) to find a red wine that is good warm; one jam-flavored wine from southern Austria worked well in the previous blizzard. One thing I cannot find: Cardamom pods. The Indian and Pakistani grocery stores near me are only accessible by driving, which is impossible. I will thus have to make do with honey, cinnamon and cloves. I do love my cloves. One recipe I found suggested poking cloves into orange slices and throwing them into the wine, which seems a bit much. (A bit much, that is, with respect to the citrus flavoring, not the cloves).

Now, the mulled wine article on Wikipedia is perhaps in need of elaboration. Yes, it dutifully catalogs the different names for mulled wine in European countries: in German, glühwein, which is famous in the Christmas markets in Munich and Vienna. In Romania they call it vin fiert, and it is made using "red or white wine, sometimes adding peppercorn." In Latvia, is karstvīns, and is combined with a vodka mixture called Riga Black Balsam. In Scandinavia, of course it is glögg (Danish gløgg, Estonian glögi), and I'll get to that in a moment. So far, so good: Wikipedia has taken me on a trip around the world, just as it has many another time. But what if I wanted to have a Northern European costume party and serve gløgg out of one cauldron and glühwein in another? From this article, I would not be able to do it. There are no recipes, and no clarification of the essential differences between one variation and another. Gløgg is described as wine with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, citrus and cloves, with spirits optionally thrown in. Glühwein is much the same thing: wine, cinnamon, vanilla, citrus and sugar ... with optional liquor. In Chile it appears they have navegado (from navigar, to navigate, not from Navidad), and the recipe is almost identical. 

Now, there are many varieties of human experience in which I am still untried. One thing that I have done, and more than once, is sample the Christmas wines of Europe. And I recall that there is a very pronounced distinction between glühwein and gløgg. If I had to guess, the gløgg sold in the street markets has schnapps and cognac added; the glühwein does not. I don't know. I am only the consumer. The Danes also add nuts and raisins to the drink and give you a spoon, so that by the end you're finishing a snack instead of a libation. Wikipedia says the Swedes serve glögg with gingerbread. My ... that sounds very good. Also, the Germans sometimes give you a mug that you have to return to the booth or else lose your cash deposit -- a very German way of doing things. The Danes seem to give out paper cups, mostly, which is very American. There is no difference that I noticed between the glühwein in Germany and that of Austria; having never been to Sweden, I don't know how closely they follow Denmark's method for brewing gløgg or glögg. (After staying in Denmark for two weeks, I still do not understand the difference between Denmark and Sweden. This troubles me.)

A cursory search through the Internet does not turn up any reliable cultural fault lines or consistent recipes; I simply found many variations of red wine (cheap, they stress,without too much oak) with alcohol added if you want it, and mixed with spices, citrus fruit or rinds, honey or sugar, and maybe some nuts and raisins. They note that you should not let it boil, which is true. And that you should heat it slowly for an hour to let it all settle in.

Comments

[Sven]

As I am half-Austrian and half-Swede, as well as currently living in Germany, I'll now tell you my knowledge of mulled wine in these three countries. I tasted it in all three countries in multiple cities, and here are my experience-based conclusions:

There is practically no difference between the Glühweins in Germany and Austria. I actually don't like them. They tend to be made from cheap wine, which might be drinkable when hot, but once it cools off the Glühwein turns undrinkable. While the recipes stress to use cheap wine, I disagree on that. The gloves-in-orange or gloves-in-lemon is very common. Note that the oranges are usually peeled for that. If this form is not used, the citrus is added as slices. Another important difference rests with the spices: cardamon is not common, but instead star-anise is usually added. The cinnamon and gloves are always part of the mix; ginger on occasion. I understand that there are many recipes with lots of variation, but I have never actually met somebody who strayed from using just wine, oranges, cinnamon, gloves, star-anise, and sometimes ginger. You may get a shot of Schnaps or Cognac added to your Glühwein directly into your mug. Few people do that, though.
There is a tasty variation: the Feuerzangenbole. Here, a sugar cone is placed on a steel grid resting above a pot with regular hot mulled wine. Rum is poured over the cone and then the rum-soaked cone is put on fire /flambéd. As the cone burns, the melted sugar with rum drops into the hot mulled wine and small fires light up on the surface of the wine. It is very pretty and tastes great. However, keep a fire extinguisher at hand!

The Glögg in Sweden is pretty much what you described for Denmark. The main differences to Glühwein are the use of cardamon (which is a widely used spice in Sweden) and high-proof alcohol. While the spices are placed directly into the wine when making Glühwein, the spices are usually soaked for some time in the alcohol for Glögg. Then, the spices are removed and the alcohol with the spices' fragrances is added to the wine. Again, not a wine too cheap and tasteless.
Glögg in Sweden is served with raisins and blanched almonds in the cup. And you are right, a nice pepparkakor (gingersnap) tastes wonderful with it.
Glögg is usually served in much smaller cups when Glühwein - about a quarter size. It is stronger in alcohol and more flavorful than Glühwein. I prefer Glögg.

FYI, I added a link to my family's Glögg recipe.

[Avery]

Thanks Sven! You are the perfect person to ask about this. I will try the recipe for sure.