Glögg is a Scandinavian spiced hot wine and is the ideal drink to make for a fun holiday party punch, or just to sip on a cold winter night! There’s lots of variations of glogg, but I think it’s best with lots of flavor, and that means hitting up the spice aisle in your grocery store. Feel free to swap out any you don’t like, but here’s what I’d start with:

• 1500 ml red wine
• 2 oranges
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 12 cloves
• 2 star of anise
• nutmeg
• allspice
• fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup brandy (cheap is ok)
• 1/4 cup honey
• almonds
• raisins
• cranberries

This made enough glogg for 4-6 people — great for a small dinner party.

Start by zesting an orange for flavor, but if that’s not your thing, you can simply chop up one of the oranges and toss in a couple small pieces of orange peel. If you have a juicer, it’s nice to juice the entire other orange and any remaining pulp, but you can also juice squeeze the juice from the orange slices into a glass. Toss the pulp, and keep the zest and orange juice for now.

Berries, nuts, and raisins make a great garnish for glogg, but I like to chop up some small pieces and add them to the mixture for additional flavor. The cranberry can be pretty flavorful, so unless you really like it, a 1/4 cup chopped goes a long way. Definitely don’t add the entire bag!

I used a 1500mL bottle of cheap Livingstone Cabernet — glogg tastes great even with cheap wine (and red wine has amazing health benefits, so you don’t have to feel too guilty)! This made the perfect amount of glogg for a group of 4-6 people. If you expect everyone to be drinking several glasses, feel free to double-up the recipe.

The biggest mistake people make when making any type of mulled wine is overheating it. If your glogg boils, then it will burn off the alcohol. Heat on low so that the mixture steams, but does NOT boil. I like to let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Traditional glogg is made with sugar, and there’s many awesome recipes online that includes raw white sugar. If you prefer sugar, just pour some brandy over 1 pound of sugar cubes, light it on fire, then pour the burnt sugar into the glogg to extinguish.

I like the flavor of honey better, so I just pour 1/4 cup of organic honey directly into the red wine mixture. If you prefer it sweeter, you can double-up on the honey.

After 30 minutes, the wine is going to be warm and spicy and ready to serve! Using a strainer, pour it directly into a mug. Add a few tablespoons of brandy to taste, then stir. Toss in a piece of orange peel and a cinnamon stick to garnish, or learn how to make a fancy citrus twist garnish, add a few extra raisins and almond slices, and voila, you’re all done!