Glogg.
What a delicious name.
Glögg is a drink that traces its tasty roots back to Sweden. It’s a hot drink for cold winter evenings. It tastes like hot, extremely sweet wine. It’s fantastic.
I had my first Glogg experience last night at a Christmas party. It made me a believer. In the U.S., your best bet to find Glogg ingrediants is at IKEA (yes, they’re a Swedish company, remember?)
Here’s the ingredients you’ll need if you want to make it:
- 3 sticks cinnamon
- 2-3 pieces dried Seville orange peel
- 2-3 pieces dried ginger (not ground)
- some 10 cardamom seeds (whole)
- some 10 cloves (whole)
- 1 cup (2.5dl) water
- sugar
- 1 bottle of wine (and some vodka if you’re hardcore)
A couple of the ingredients are hard to find, unless you’re a Swede. If you can’t find a certain ingredient, call IKEA and bug them. It’s fun.
How to make it:
1) Heat spices and water to boiling, then turn off heat and let stand overnight
2) Sieve/filter out the spices
3) Add the wine (or juice)
4) Add sugar to taste (that should be a minimum of one deciliter (=2/5 of a cup); we’re talking Swedish cooking here!). You probably have to heat it first so that the sugar dissolves, then see if you want to add some more
5) Heat. Note that alcohol evaporates at 72 degrees Celsius (or is it 78?) so you want to be a bit careful!
6) For the hardcore, this is when you can spike it with Vodka
Serve hot with raisins and blanched almonds. Glögg is normally served in tiny cups. I don’t make a big deal of it. I use a basic, American coffee mug to serve. Also, pick up some tiny spoons, as they are a must for shoveling down the soaked almonds and raisins.
That’s pretty much it. You’re good to go.
Enjoy!
