• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HealthyHappyLife.com logo

  • about
  • RECIPES
  • LIFESTYLE
  • BLOGGING
  • VIDEO
  • SHOP
  • Cookbooks
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • My Books
  • Videos
  • About
  • holiday
    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » recipes » beverage » Seasonal Sips: Mulled Wine & Kathy’s Hot Toddy. Cheers!

    by Kathy Patalsky · updated: Mar 23, 2020 · published: Dec 12, 2013 · About 6 minutes to read this article. Leave a Comment

    Seasonal Sips: Mulled Wine & Kathy’s Hot Toddy. Cheers!


    My two favorite seasonal sips of the alcohol-infused variety? Mulled Wine and my Spicy Lemon Hot Toddy! Get both recipes, and warm up tonight!..

    A few basic mulling ingredients and you are good to go. Whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and star of anise..

    I had heard of “Mulled Wine” before. But it wasn’t until I really started thinking about the actual concept of this seasonal sip last week that I felt the immediate need to research and try this out for myself. Warm sangria? Sign me up!

    I read a few blogs on mulled wine, like this one by DomesticateME, and I fell in love with all the tales of sipping mulled wine in a cozy Parisian cafe during the holidays as snow fell on the champs de elysees outside. Yes please. So I tried it and loved it. My first try at Mulled Wine, I just winged the recipe and had success. The concept is pretty easy, and there is no need for perfection in your recipe, if you have whole cloves, cinnamon, star of anise and some sort of fruity accents you are good to go.

    This Mulled Wine recipe compliments my other seasonal favorite: a Hot Toddy! A warmed sip infused with lemon, brandy, spices and maple.

    And ps, if you do not like the “alcohol” part you can simply substitute the wine or brandy with apple cider or more citrus juice. And adjust the sweetener.

    After the recipes, cozy up by the fire for a little holiday story...

    So. These are my two most favorite warm beverages for the holiday season.

    Mulled wine is a spiced delight that reminds me of warm sangria. Apples, citrus, cinnamon, cloves and star of anise.

    My Hot Toddy is bright and tangy with brandy, maple, lemon, orange, cinnamon, cloves, star of anise and some ginger or black tea to finish things off.

    Warm up to one tonight!

    Kathy’s Mulled Wine
    2 servings

    16 ounces leftover red wine (you do not need too anything fancy, a $10-$15 bottle is perfect)
    ½ apple, diced
    1 orange, juiced
    1 orange, sliced
    ½ teaspoon orange zest
    3-4 whole cloves
    1 star of anise
    1 cinnamon stick
    2 tablespoon maple syrup, grade B
    1-2 shots of brandy or cognac
    for a lighter/sweeter sip, add ½ cup apple cider or pomegranate juice

    Directions: Simmer all ingredients in a sauce pot on the stove for about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

    Kathy’s Spicy Lemon Mulled Hot Toddy
    2 servings

    1 tea bag, I like black tea when i do not mind the caffeine or ginger or chamomile tea when this is an evening sip
    16 ounces water
    2 shots brandy or cognac
    2 tablespoon maple syrup, grade B
    2 small lemons or 1 large, juiced + pinch of lemon zest
    ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
    pinch of cayenne
    3-4 cloves
    1 star of anise
    1 cinnamon stick
    optional: for a sweeter citrus sip, substitute half the water with fresh orange juice or apple cider (you may want to lessen the maple syrup if you do this, depending on how sweet you’d like it).

    Directions: Simmer in a sauce pot on the stove for 10-5 minutes. Serve by pouring through a mesh strainer.

    Now that you have a cozy sip in hand, a little story by the virtual roaring fireplace..

    I have a funny story. A cinnamon stick story. Feel free to use it at holiday parties if you’d like. It is a quickie, kinda really silly and simple, but I love it.

    A few years ago I spent all afternoon in the kitchen baking up a luscious batch of holiday season vegan cinnamon rolls. It was a frosty December weekend day so my husband was in the other room eagerly awaiting his taste test. So once the rolls were frosted and fluffy, I loaded one of the warm steamy rolls onto a plate. I was trying to be all crafty and elegant, so I grated some fresh cinnamon over top and left the cinnamon stick on the side of the plate as a garnish.

    I glided into the living room holding the roll high in the air as if it were a .. well, as if it were a freshly baked cinnamon roll! I think all freshly baked cinnamon rolls deserve a proud entrance to a room. I presented the roll to my husband and he smiled wide as he dove in fork first. I glided (yes I always glide when I bake cinnamon rolls), glided back into the kitchen and grabbed myself a roll, plopped it on a plate, grabbed a shiny fork and floated back to devour my roll as well. But just as I entered the living room, this was in like slow motion now, I spotted my husband picking up the cinnamon stick and sticking it right in the side of his mouth and in one big chomp, he bit down on the cinnamon stick. The rock hard tree bark swirl must have confused him because he, again, bit down on the stick. My eyes were just about to pop out of my head as I froze in amazement watching him try to eat the cinnamon stick garnish. Finally I unlocked my gaze and shouted, “Hunny! Don’t eat that!”

    He paused, looked at me with a blank stare and then back at the mangled, cinnamon stick

    “You didn’t swallow that did you?!” I asked.

    “Um, no.” He said spitting out a few shards of bark.

    “That darling is a cinnamon stick. Garnish. You don’t eat that.” I spoke in my ‘talking to kids’ voice. He finally came out of his blank stare and realized what he did. After much interrogation on my part as to why he would bite into a cinnamon stick, he eloquently reasoned that he thought the cinnamon stick was one of those chocolate twirl garnishes that you find on top of desserts at fancy restaurants. Ok, ok, I can buy that.

    The scene ended with me in a ball on the floor, rolling around in laughter.

    I remembered this story yesterday when I served him a glass of mulled wine with a cinnamon stick garnish. He laughed to me, “I do not eat this, right?”

    🙂

    Craving cinna buns now? Here is my recipe! Vegan Cinnamon Buns with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

    Also watch out for a cinnamon stick to garnish Mrs Claus’s Sip:

    More recipes you may enjoy

    • DIY Holiday Gifts: Vegan Hot Chocolate. Aztec Style.
    • Sugar Plum Citrus-Cranberry Sparkle Muffins (GF, vegan)
    • DIY Winter Wonderland Spa at Home. Wellness + Beauty.
    • DIY Holiday Gifts Round-Up.

    About Kathy Patalsky

    Hey there! I'm Kathy, lover of kitty cats, weekend baking, 90's movies, travel, beach fog and foamy lattes. Since 2007, I have been sharing my vegan recipes and photos. My goal is to make your cooking life a little easier, delicious - and plant-loaded - while sharing some LIFE and conversation along the way.

    Vegan Linzer Cookies

    5 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Pie

    Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

    Vegan Oatmeal Cookies, Lunchbox-Ready

    Primary Sidebar

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    newsletter:

    Trending

    my cookbooks

    my cookbooks

    Disqus Latest Comments

    1. s

      s: Absolutely one of the best things I've ever baked. Used dairy butter…

      Commented on: Cinnamon Toast Morning Muffins, gluten-free and vegan

    2. JanetS

      JanetS: Neither of those non-grain flours will substitute for oats or wheat. As…

      Commented on: Cinnamon Toast Morning Muffins, gluten-free and vegan

    3. disqus_LfP7ofaP87

      disqus_LfP7ofaP87: Earth Balance brand HAS PALM OIL, as do most of the vegan…

      Commented on: Sticky Banana Bread Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

    about kathy

    kathy patalsky

    featured: peach coconut water smoothie

    browse recipes

    Breakfast  |  Entrees  |  Desserts  |  Smoothies  |  Sandwiches  |  Salads  |  Beverages  |  Soups |  Appetizers |  Snacks  |  Sauces  |  Sides   /  Cooking Videos  |  Round-Ups  |  Fan Favorites  |  Holiday  /  All the Recipes

    browse:

    • reviews
    • travel
    • vegan topics
    • people
    • videos
    • beauty
    • wellness
    • Mom Life

    my ttc + baby journey

    Footer

    BROWSE BY:

    Category:

    DATE:

    looking for something?

    contact   |   about   |   kathy’s cookbooks  |  press  |  findingvegan  |  meal plans  |  shop  |  vegan recipe index  |  privacy policy  | start a blog

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Services | Work with me