Cardamom & Cinnamon Mulled Wine

It’s the holidays and we’re running around finishing up on the holiday shopping, printing itineraries for our trip to Dominican Republic, and scribbling out Christmas cards while watching Top Chef. And while all that’s going on, we’re simmering one pot after another of mulled wine to gift to friends.

The house smells amazing and we’re creating some lovely homemade gifts for our neighbors and favorite people in Edgartown (a.k.a. the library patrons that put up with my endless questions and the USPS people that deal with me and my packages on a daily basis). They’ll all be getting a special jar of our mulled wine, a recipe we created on a whim using some fantastic products.

As you can see above, we’ve got spices and sweeteners; we even have hibiscus and cherries. But let’s talk about what makes this spiced and what makes it sweet, because it’s an all in one item: the raw cinnamon agave from Wholesome Sweeteners. Here are some points from the company:

• Sweet, mild syrup is 25% sweeter than sugar (so you use less)
• A perfect multi-purpose sweetener. Try it in beverages, baked goods, glazes and sauces
• Glycemic Index of 39 or less: Natural sweetness without the blood sugar spike
• Non-crystallizing and quick dissolving
• No refrigeration required
• Specially produced at low temperatures and lightly filtered for a full, natural flavor

After searching various recipes for mulled wine, we realized they were normally filled with granulated sugar or corn syrup, so we loved the fact that we weren’t adding fake stuff into our beverage. The Cinnamon Agave adds the perfect touch of warmth to this recipe, with enough sweetness to make this the perfect sipping winter drink.

Cardamom & Cinnamon Mulled Wine

A spiced wine that will warm you up during the winter months!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups full-bodied red wine We used Carménère, a member of the Cabernet grape family
• ½ cup of your favorite port
• ½ cup Wholesome Sweet Cinnamon Raw Blue Agave
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• peel of half an orange
• 1 teaspoon cardamom pods crushed
• 1 star anise whole

Instructions

• Over medium heat in a saucepan, whisk together the wine, port, cinnamon agave, and vanilla.
• Add the orange peel, cardamom pods, and star anise. Lower heat to lowest setting and simmer for 30 minutes. Your home will smell fantastic.
• Turn off heat and transfer to glass jars for gifting or pour into pitcher to cool in refrigerator. Reheat before serving to warm up on a cool night!
• Optional: add morello cherries and one hibiscus flower into each jar!

Servings: 4 cups

Wholesome Sweeteners also have raw agave in maple, strawberry, and vanilla. Be sure to check those out as well, perfect for drizzling on waffles, in your coffee, or over fruit (I’m addicted to their raw honey over fresh pears!)

Disclosure: I received Wholesome Sweetener products to facilitate this recipe, but I purchase them on a regular basis from our local store. Opinions are based 100% on personal testing and tasting!