Make a batch of Mulling Spices to share with friends and family for a delicious holiday gift or keep them all to yourself for ready-to-go hot beverages all season long. This whole spice mix can be used to make mulled wine, spiced apple cider, wassail and more.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, Feast + West receives a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
About this Mulling Spices recipe
Homemade holiday gifts are one of my favorite things to give. They are a great way to save money on buying gifts and you can often make many at once. I’m all for simplifying shopping!
One year, I made these infused cocktail kits, which are jars filled with dried fruits, herbs and spices. When alcohol is added into the mix, the flavors infuse and intertwine with it, leaving you with a spirit for delicious and flavorful drinks.
Of those kits, the jarred Mulling Spices one deserved its own blog post. Filled with a mixture of dried citrus, sugar and whole spices, this mixture is most famously used for making mulled wine, one of the most popular Christmas cocktails around the world.
To make mulled wine, you simply heat red wine with these ingredients to create a warming, spiced beverage. You can also use mulling spices to brew apple cider, wassail and other warm beverages, or use them to infuse whiskey or spiced rum.
Jar them up and they make an excellent holiday gift for friends, party hosts, neighbors and teachers. And I recommend keeping a jar for yourself, so you can enjoy the (spiced) fruits of your labor too!
More homemade gift ideas: Airplane Cocktail Kits • Old-Fashioned Syrup • Lemon Sugar • Margarita Salt • Homemade Cocktail Cherries
Why you’ll love this recipe
You’ll love this recipe for mulling spices, for a few big reasons:
- Mulling spices are great to have on hand for making mulled wine in a snap.
- A jar of these dried fruits and spices makes an excellent gift in the winter months.
- You can use them for more than just wine. They taste excellent in spiced cider, wassail and infused alcohol too!
What are Mulling Spices?
Mulling spices are a fragrant mixture of whole warming spices, dried fruit and sugar that are used to flavor many warm beverages like mulled wine and apple cider. Blends often include cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg, as well as citrus peel and sugar.
Traditionally used to infuse flavor into big batch warm beverages like cider, wine or tea, they create a cozy, aromatic experience perfect for fall and winter. Easy to customize, mulling spices make a thoughtful homemade gift or an essential addition to holiday gatherings.
Tools & equipment
You don’t need a lot of gear to put together your own mulling spices! I make mine in mason jars with my own printable labels, but you could easily use cellophane bags or cloth bags to give them as gifts. Other than that, you’re just dropping in the ingredients, sealing them up and calling it a day!
Personally, I like to dehydrate my own orange slices and lemon slices for my mulled wine kits. If you are dehydrating your own fruit as well, you will need a sharp knife and cutting board or a mandoline for slicing the fruit, as well as a sheet pan, parchment paper and a cooling rack.
Ingredients
My own mulled wine spices always includes these ingredients. But you can have fun with customizing your own! I also like to dehydrate citrus at home — it’s much cheaper than buying it! (And so so easy, too!)
Many classic recipes also included nutmeg pods and allspice berries, but I find that most people don’t keep these in their kitchens, and you can create delicious mulled beverages without them. But if you have them, by all means throw some in!
- Dried lemon slices
- Dried orange slices
- Whole cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
- Sugar cubes (Can be omitted! You can use another sweetener, like brown sugar, honey or maple syrup when brewing the mulled wine or cider.)
Optional ingredients
Mulling spice mixes don’t have to stop there — you can add other dried fruits and spices as you wish. Experiment with different ones and come up with your own custom blend! A few to try include:
- Candied ginger
- Allspice berries
- Cardamom pods
- Black peppercorns
- Whole nutmeg
- Vanilla pods
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Apple chips
Instructions
To make your own mulling spice kits, here’s what you’ll need to do:
First, dehydrate the citrus if you are doing that yourself. (You can also buy them dehydrated but I find it’s cheaper to buy oranges and lemons in bulk and doing it at home.) Preheat oven to the lowest temperature your oven can go and line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Arrange thin slices of citrus on the parchment lined sheet and bake in the oven for 3 to 4 hours. When the slices are completely dried, remove them from the oven and let cool completely overnight.
Place all completely dried citrus as well as the spices and sugar cubes into an airtight container such as a mason jar. Screw the lid on tightly and store in a cool, dark place for up to two years. For best results, use within 6 months.
Tips & tricks
Here are some tips and tricks for making this recipe:
- For a fresher flavor, use the whole spices with fresh citrus. Stud a fresh orange or lemon with the whole cloves (as in the photo above) to add even more flavor to your mulled drinks.
- If you are dehydrating your own citrus, be sure that they are completely dried out before adding them to a jar. You don’t want any residual moisture in these jars.
- Use fresh spices. Spices lose their flavor over time, and can even go rancid. They should be replaced every year.
- When you infuse mulling spices into a beverage and want to store leftovers, be sure to remove the citrus as the zest can be bitter after some time. That bitterness can (and probably will) overpower the other flavors.
How to use Mulling Spices
Ready to make some mulled wine, glogg or cider?
- To a large saucepan or dutch oven, add apple cider or red wine. Stir in the mulling spices. Bring to a low simmer over medium-heat. If using wine, heat the wine mixture to 180°F (80°C), about 5-10 minutes. (Above that temperature, the alcohol will begin to cook out. We simply want to warm it.)
- Reduce heat to low and let flavors infuse for 15 minutes more. Remove from heat.
- When ready to serve, warm on low heat. Serve in mugs or insulated glasses. Garnish with an orange wedge and/or a cinnamon stick.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to remove the fruits and spices, especially citrus peel, which can add bitterness.
Drinks with Mulling Spices
You can use mulling spices to create tons of delicious and cozy beverages with layers of zesty citrus and spiced flavors.
- Mulled wine: Called Glühwein in Germany and Gløgg or Glögg in Scandinavian countries, a mulled wine recipe is made by warming a dry red wine (like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon) with spices to create a warm, spiced wine.
- Mulled cider: You can do the same thing with apple cider as you do with wine. The cider will take on the flavor of the spices, leaving you with apple pie in liquid form!
- Wassail: This one is a similar mix of cider, brandy and ale, a traditional English holiday drink.
- Russian tea: My family always makes Russian tea at the holidays. It’s a sweet and fruity tea drink served warm on the stovetop.
- Infused alcohol: Pour alcohol such as vodka, rum or whiskey over top and let the spices infuse with it for a few days to a week. The alcohol will take on the flavor, getting stronger every day. You can also use them to make non-alcoholic homemade zero-proof spirits by adding hot water to them instead of booze!
Other uses for Mulling Spices
Cooking: You can even cook with mulling spices! Use them to make flavorful jams, homemade cocktail cherries or a spiced cranberry sauce.
Baking: You can even infuse milk or water with them that you’d use in cakes and other spiced recipes, like chai muffins.
Simmer pot: This last one isn’t meant to be eaten! You simply add the spices to hot water and boil them on the stove. This creates a fragrant aroma that will fill your home with these spices. Continue to add water as it boils down to keep the scent going for hours.
Food pairings
Mulled drinks are so good with cozy recipes that have spices and zesty flavors.
Any recipe that contains the spices of your mulling spices is a great pairing, like these chai ginger cookies or some pumpkin bread.
You could also go citrus with some lemon drop cookies or orange poppy seed cake. Savory recipes, like a charcuterie board, are good complements for spice and citrus too.
FAQ
Mulling spices are a fragrant mixture of whole warming spices, dried fruit and sugar that are used to flavor many warm beverages like mulled wine and apple cider. Blends often include cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg, as well as citrus peel and sugar.
If you have individual whole spices, like whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, you can use those instead of mulling spices. If necessary, you can use ground spices, but it can make your beverages gritty and grainy, so you’ll want to strain it out through a fine-mesh strainer or a cheesecloth.
Mulling spices also usually contain dehydrated citrus. Fresh citrus slices, pieces of lemon zest and orange peel, or even a splash of apple juice or orange juice are also okay to use.
More drink essentials
— Did you make this recipe? —
Please leave a ★★★★★ review or comment below.
Mulling Spices
ingredients
Mulling spices
- 5 slices lemon fresh or dehydrated
- 10 slices orange fresh or dehydrated
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 4 whole cinnamon sticks
- 1 piece star anise
- ½ cup sugar cubes
Optional additions
Mulled wine or mulled cider
- ½ gallon apple cider OR
- 2 bottles dry red wine 750ml each
- 1 jar mulling spices
instructions
Dehydrated citrus
- If preparing kits using fresh citrus, you'll need to dehydrate it first. (If using already-dehydrated citrus, you can skip this step.) Preheat oven to the lowest temperature your oven can go — mine was 170°F (77°C). Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
- Slice each citrus fruit thinly into ⅛-inch pieces. Arrange slices on the parchment lined sheet. They can touch but it’s ideal not to overlap them a lot. A little overlap is okay as the slices will shrink in the oven.
- Bake in the oven for 3 to 4 hours — the time will vary based on your oven, the temperature, the size of your fruit and how thin they are sliced. Check every hour and rotate the pan. If any of the slices begin to curl, flip them to encourage them to flatten.
- When the slices are completely dried, remove them from the oven and let cool completely overnight.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. If stored properly, dehydrated citrus slices will keep for up to two years.
Mulling spice jars
- Place all dried ingredients in an airtight container such as a mason jar. Screw the lid on tightly and store in a cool, dark place for up to two years. For best results, use within 6 months.
Mulled cider or mulled wine
- To a large pot or dutch oven, add apple cider or red wine. Stir in the mulling spices. Bring to a low simmer over medium-heat. If using wine, heat the wine mixture to 180°F (80°C), about 5-10 minutes. (Above that temperature, the alcohol will begin to cook out. We simply want to warm it.)
- Reduce heat to low and let flavors infuse for 15 minutes more. Remove from heat.
- When ready to serve, warm on low heat. Serve in mugs or insulated glasses. Garnish with an orange wedge and/or a cinnamon stick.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to remove the fruits and spices, especially citrus peel, which can add bitterness.
Simmer pot
- You simply add the spices to a pot of water and boil them on the stove. Reduce to a low simmer. This creates a fragrant aroma that will fill your home with these spices. Continue to add water as it boils down to keep the scent going for hours. (Simmer pots aren't really meant to be eaten!)
notes
recommended products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Leave a Reply