Interpolated and translated from this and this recipe by Albert Hald-Bjerrum and Wolfgang Sürth, winners of the Unofficial Danish Gløgg Championships 2018.

Makes: Ca. 8 liters.

Serves: It depends on the party.

Ingredients

Essence

Garnish

Procedure

1. Mix the strong red wine, brown sugar, and spices in a large pot and bring it to 65-70°C, at which point it should have begun to steam. Make sure the brown sugar has dissolved (stir to help it along). Turn off the heat, replace the lid and leave it to infuse overnight, or at least for a few hours.

2. Add the calvados, vodka and dark rum to the pot. Stir it in and filter the liquid from the spices.

3. You now have your essence, containing roughly 30% acohol. It can be stored practically indefintely. At this point the original recipe calls for aging the essence for 2 years in an old Bourbon hogshead cask from Flor de Caña i Nicaragua. Feel free to skip this step, as I do.

4. Let the sultanas and almond slivers soak in white port for 24 hours before serving.

5. When serving, mix the essence with the bright red wine 1:1 in a pot. Add a dash of orange juice and a dash of white port – about 50ml of each per liter of total Gløgg. Feel your way through this step, but don’t be scared. If you are doing it right, it should taste and smell like Christmas.

6. Heat the Gløgg to serving temperature (no more than 70°C, or the alcohol will begin to evaporate!!). Adjust taste with dark rum and honey as needed.

7. Put the sultanas and almond slivers into cups, and add a slice of orange (maybe a half slice if your glasses are narrow). Pour the Gløgg over the top, and serve.