It\u2019s winter and there\u2019s no better way to warm up than to enjoy a steaming glass of Gluhwein in front of a roaring log fire at Granny Mouse.<\/p>\n
As you enjoy your steaming glass of Gluhwein, you might begin to wonder about the origins of drinking hot, spiced wine and how this quaint tradition ended up in the chilly Midlands in the first place.<\/p>\n
It was probably first introduced by German missionaries and entrepreneurs who arrived in what was then Natal during the 1800s. As you make your way around the Midlands Meander and through neighbouring towns, you\u2019ll suddenly realise just how many of them, as well as restaurants and other attractions, are named after or influenced by German culture.<\/p>\n
Gluhwein is an important part of Christmas celebrations during snowy winters in European countries.<\/p>\n
It also has many different names and you may have heard it being called everything from Mulled Wine to Gl\u00f6g or perhaps just simple spiced wine. Essentially, Gluhwein is red wine to which sugar and spices and flavours such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise, vanilla and oranges have been added.<\/p>\n
Then, this pungent concoction is heated almost to boiling point before being served up as that perfect winter companion. Sometimes, it is enjoyed along with a hefty shot of something like rum.<\/p>\n
Interestingly enough, though, it seems that the Europeans might not have actually invented Gluhwein. Some say it stems from a spiced and heated wine dating all the way back to Rome during the second century AD. As the Romans plundered their way across Europe, they took their sizzling hot and spicy tipple along with them.<\/p>\n
The oldest documented appearance of\u00a0Gl\u00fchwein<\/em>\u00a0in Europe dates back to 1420. Apparently, historians discovered a special gold plated tankard that belonged to a German nobleman who used it only for sipping this sweet and spicy liquid.<\/p>\n These days, there\u2019s many variations with the sizzling spicy drink often changing quite a lot from region to region across Scandinavia, Turkey, Italy, France and the Netherlands. We\u2019re told that the Dutch prefer lemons to oranges. Whilst, in Moldova, they add black pepper and honey. The Canadians even add maple syrup to their warmed wine!<\/p>\n In the Nordic countries, there\u2019s\u00a0gl\u00f6gg<\/em>, and mulled wine has long been popular amongst the Brits and Scots.<\/p>\n Whatever the origins, we\u2019ve got our own brand of Granny Mouse Gl\u00fchwein that warms the cockles of our guests\u2019 hearts on wintery evenings and prepares them for a warm night snuggled beneath feather duvets in warm beds. <\/em><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the recipe: <\/em><\/p>\n Granny Mouse\u2019s Spicy Gluhwein<\/strong><\/p>\n Ingredients<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 1 Bottle Red wine<\/p>\n 2 Oranges cut in half<\/p>\n 250g Sugar<\/p>\n 1tbsp Star Anise<\/p>\n 3 Sticks of Cinnamon<\/p>\n 30ml Black Sambuca<\/p>\n 1tbsp Dried Cloves<\/p>\n 250ml Orange Juice<\/p>\n Method<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Pour the wine and sugar into a medium pot and bring to a boil before reducing the heat to a gentle simmer. Squeeze the oranges and add to the pot together with all the other ingredients.<\/p>\n Allow this to simmer gently until it has reduced by half.<\/p>\n Remove the star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves before pouring into glasses and serving warm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s winter and there\u2019s no better way to warm up than to enjoy a steaming glass of Gluhwein in front of a roaring log fire at Granny Mouse. As you enjoy your steaming glass of Gluhwein, you might begin to wonder about the origins of drinking hot, spiced wine and how this quaint tradition ended […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2730,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728\/revisions\/2730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goldfishcommunications.co.za\/a\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}