Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Glögg



I've mentioned Glögg - the Swedish holiday drink of choice. We're talking about a hot spiced wine here, often spiked with vodka, rum or cognac, sweetened, and flavored with cloves, cinnamon, oranges... various spices, really. It's served hot, and with raisins and blanched almonds. A newish version is white Glögg, which can also be served ice cold, on the rocks.

The most famous brand is probably Blossa. They've also taken to making special yearly editions. Last year's is the one in the pic, Blossa 04. It was flavored with calvados and apple, and a white type of Glögg. Delicious! This year, it's Cloudberries & Armagnac, and we haven't opened that one yet.

For traditional Glögg, there are tons of different recipes. I haven't tried this myself, but it looks like it'll give a good result.

Glögg (or Glogg, or Gloegg)
500 ml water
2 dried pieces of peel from bitter oranges
2 large pieces of dried ginger
2 pieces of dried cinnamon
15 cloves
2 tsp cardamom seeds

750 ml red wine
80 g / 100 ml sugar
100 ml cognac (optional)

Mix water and the spices in a saucepan, bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Pass through a filter to get rid of the spices. Mix the resulting syrup with the wine and the sugar and the optional booze in a saucepan, and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Don't let it boil! Serve hot in small cups, with blanched almonds and raisins.

3 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

Thanks so much for the recipe. I am going to bookmark this page (or do it the old fashioned way and print the page!) I have a party every year on New Year's Day and want to serve this.

Nic said...

I've had Glögg before and must admit that I wasn't a huge fan, however the vareties you mentioned sound delicious, Anne. I am guessing that the Glögg selection isn't that great on this side of the Atlantic.

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