Mull it over

Drinking warm, spiced wine or cider during the winter months has warmed bodies and lifted spirits for centuries. We'll walk you through the steps for mulling wine or cider the modern way--on a stovetop or in a microwave. The aromatic, warm beverage you create may not turn back the icy blasts of winter, but it may make the weather somehow more agreeable.

Before you begin

If you're mulling wine, choose an inexpensive red wine that's medium-bodied to dry. A merlot or cabernet sauvignon is perfect. The spicy ingredients you'll add--cinnamon, cloves, and fruit--will remedy any weaknesses the wine might have. If you're mulling cider, any apple cider will do.

Wine can have a tangy edge after it's been warmed up, so recipes often call for sugar and water, or sometimes herbal or citrus tea. The sugar makes the mulled wine sweeter, while the water helps dissolve the sugar. Using herbal or citrus tea enhances the mulled wine with still more flavors.

The directions in this 2torial will yield about eight glasses of mulled wine or cider. Unused portions can be stored in the refrigerator. If you only want to make one or two glasses of wine, skip ahead to Step 5 to find out how to microwave mulled wine. If you just want to mull cider, skip ahead to Step 6.