by merrill
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merrill's Notes:
Expand1 750 ml bottle dry or off-dry white wine (preferably Riesling or Grüner Veltliner) Ask a question about this ingredient
1 piece star anise Ask a question about this ingredient
2 1/4-inch slices fresh ginger Ask a question about this ingredient
3 green cardamom pods Ask a question about this ingredient
3 whole cloves Ask a question about this ingredient
3 to 4 tablespoons honey, or to taste Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup pear brandy (Poire William) Ask a question about this ingredient
Put the wine in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan with the star anise, ginger, cardamom, cloves and honey (start with 3 tablespoons and adjust later if necessary). Set the pan over medium heat and bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and let the wine mull for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Ask a question about this stepTaste the wine and add more honey if you’d like. Gently reheat the wine until it starts to steam, then turn off the heat and stir in the brandy. Divide among 4 mugs or heatproof glasses, putting a few of the spices in each glass if you’d like, and add a slice of Asian pear. Toddy away!
Ask a question about this stepHappy birthday to him! Glad you enjoyed it.
Made this last night and loved how pretty it is with the star anise floating in the drink! Have to confess that I doubled the amount of brandy :) Thought the riesling would be too sweet but it was the perfect choice. Definately going into my rotation as this is versatile enough to be made into a sangria (a nod to the Florida "winter") as well.
Glad you liked it, and great adjustment! ;)
Such a fun, tasty drink! We enjoyed it with Fig and Blue Cheese Savouries this afternoon. ;o)
Congrats Merrill! Lovely drink for these cold & frigid days ahead!
Cheers, Merrill! Over the holidays I discovered a lovely bottle of Riesling in the depths of my wine fridge - looking forward to trying this with it!
Bought some pear brandy today! I have an event tomorrow, but am looking forward to making this afterwards when I can kick back and put my feet up :-). I too am a lightweight when it comes to anything outside wine and beer, so this is perfect for me.
Thanks, guys, for your great comments and your support! I couldn't have done it without you.
I'm wondering if you could do double-duty with this and poach some whole pears in it for dessert... or would that cook off too much of the alcohol?
Hmm. The only thing is that it doesn't have much sugar in it, and usually poaching liquid for pears is pretty heavy on the sugar.
This drink is delicious! I'm somewhat ashamed to say my husband and I polished off an entire batch. Cheers!
I couldn't make this before the voting deadline. Here in WA, there are no private liquor stores; the are all "owned" by the state. The liquor store in the town I live in is, I am not joking, 20'x20' so only the most popular brands and types of liquor are sold here. I didn't give myself enough time to special order it, so my local store won't have it until Friday. Or I could make an hour-and-a-half round trip to a liquor store in Seattle. I'm so bummed.
There's always time for a hot toddy!
We had this on NYE and it was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe Merrill.
could you use a pear other than Asian? and if so, what would that be?
Any firm-ish pear would do nicely. I think a Bartlett would work particularly well.
oooh, I have a bottle of asian poire wiliam that needs an inaugural pour. this looks great.
Cheers! Looks wonderful :)
Yes look fabulous
Mmm...love the flavors here, sounds really delicious. Thanks for a lovely recipe.
Thanks, everyone, for your lovely comments. Cheers to a great 2011!
I'm a lightweight, too. Anything with Asian pear, ginger and cardamom, I have to try!
I'm in the lightweight club too! Plus, mulled wine is my absolute favorite. You got my vote!
Love the spices you chose. Perfect blend of light and spicy! This toddy gets my vote. Amanda's looks wonderful too, but just can't do the dried cherries.
I'm with you on being a booze lightweight--love all the flavors in this!
Beautiful. I love pear brandy!
Love the Asian pear with brandy here in a Weisglühwein. How creative!
This is from your friendly editors at Food52.
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The ingredients: white wine (dry or just off-dry), pear brandy (Poire William), Asian pear, cloves, ginger, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon and honey.
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Step 1: Open the wine!
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I used a dry Riesling for this batch, but I also liked it with Grüner Veltliner.
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Fresh ginger makes all the difference in this recipe -- as does making sure the rest of your spices aren't stale!
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Feel free to add honey to taste -- I used 3 tablespoons, but it all depends on the dryness of the wine and how sweet you like your mulled wine.
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Once the wine has steeped for 15 to 20 minutes, it's time to add the brandy. Once you've added it, you don't want to reheat the wine too much, or you'll lose the flavor -- and the alcohol content!
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This was a huge hit for my boyfriend's birthday! I added a tiny bit more ginger and more than a tiny bit more booze :-)