This Christmas syrup is a fantastic base for many cocktail recipes. This deep red, sweet and boozy syrup is so delicious. Technically it is a mulled wine syrup. But as I mainly use it during the holidays, the name Christmas syrup makes more sense to me.
Mulled wine
Let's start with the theory. The base of our syrup is a homemade mulled wine. Mulled wine is a beautiful hot drink for a cold winter day, especially around Christmas. It is festive, sweet, and tastes like Christmas in a cup. The list of ingredients is also short. You need a rather dry red wine like a merlot, malbec, or cabernet sauvignon. To get the Christmas flavor, we also need oranges, cinnamon, some cloves, and star anise. Finally, a hint of sweetness from honey or sugar and our mulled wine recipe is complete. If you're a fan of Glögg, you can also add some fennel seeds and cardamom.
Christmas spiced Syrup recipe
To get a syrup, you have to tweak the recipe above a bit. We need more sugar, more booze, and I also add some Angostura bitters. You can use this syrup in a huge variety of cocktails. It is also a great addition to pancakes or vanilla ice cream. But let's get started with the recipe.
Ingredients
- 240 ml water
- 480 ml Merlot or other red wine
- 135 g sugar
- 5 slices orange
- 3 sticks cinnamon
- 12 cloves
- 3 star anise
- 2 oz dark rum
- 10-12 dashes Angostura bitters
Instructions
- In a sacuepan, add water, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, and orange slices. Bring to a boil and keept it until it is very fragrant.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and add sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add red wine and simmer for around 25 minutes. You may want to stir occasionally so the syrup does not burn. The mixture should turn slightly syrupy before you turn off the heat.
- After turning off the heat, add dark rum and Angostura bitters.
- Leave to cool. In the meawhile sterilise your syup bottle and let it dry.
- Strain through a very fine sieve, fill it in your bottle and seal
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Thanks and Cheers.