Making good czech mulled wine

Discussion in 'Food & Drink' started by merseygirl, Dec 13, 2007.

  1. merseygirl

    merseygirl Member

    :D Whilst on a trip to Prague recently :D I drank wonderful mulled wine anyone any good receipes for this :D
     
  2. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Hello, Merseygirl! That's reminded me of my days at University in Liverpool. I had a lovely flat in Woolton and used to go to the Baby Elephant in the village. Happy days!

    My own (very imprecise) recipe for svařák but it seems to go down well, is a litre of red wine, as much rum as you want to put in, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, a handful of cloves and a large stick of cinnamon. But we can also cheat over here because Tesco sell a very acceptable carton of the stuff, ready made for 39kc, I think it is!

    But I've just found this which sounds vastly superior!

    Svařák season is here
    from Prague TV: http://prague.tv/
    by Scott Van Wagenen

    This is a quick and delicious recipe for hot mulled wine that will warm the cockles and whatever else it reaches.

    The fall season is here and brings an excuse to drink one of my favorite things, hot mulled wine or Svařak. Here in Prague you often get box wine with Tuzemsky rum (a strange tasting rum that is made from white beets but that works well in grog and for some baking) heated to boiling with some cloves and a bit of cinnamon powder. While ok when your on the street and you need a little instant warmth it's not so good for holiday entertaining. Here is a recipe that is a bit more refined. Some recipes call for using a good red wine, but for me, as soon as you heat it you are losing the flavorful elements that make it good to begin with. Any passable red table wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy or a decent Czech Modry Portugal will suffice.
    Ingredients
    2 bottles Cabernet Sauvignon
    1 1/4 c. honey
    1/4 tsp. lemon zest 4 cinnamon sticks
    1/4 c. brown sugar
    8 pieces cloves
    1 liter. strained fresh orange juice
    4 dl of Brandy.
    Method
    In a deep sauce pot make a simple syrup with 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest, cloves, and cinnamon. Cook until sugar is incorporated well Add wine, orange juice and honey and cook until almost boiling. DO NOT BOIL THE WINE!. Let it simmer. Adjust seasoning as needed. Remember that the cloves and the cinnamon will really bloom the more time it is left in the mix so it is good to make just as much as you plan to serve. A few minutes before service add the brandy.

    Copyright 2007 Prague TV and Scott Van Wagenen
     
  3. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    I love svařak!. I usually have a glass after work almost every night in the winter. I've never used rum though. I'll have to try that. I'm not sure how much to add since when I make it, I only make one glass. How much rum would you say is needed for one regular size glass of wine? Also I use white wine because i like it better. Would it still be good with rum?

    I'm going to try that recipe Polednikova. But what is a dl as in 4 dl of brandy. (excuse my ignorance please :oops: ) Also, I know a lot of my Czech friends call Slivovice brandy when speaking English (or sometimes they call it plum brandy). So are you talking about Brandy (as in the brown stuff) or slivovice?
     
  4. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    As svařák keeps, and you have a glass most nights after work, why not do a batch of it, then you don't have to worry so much about the quantities? I make a litre at a time, keep it in the fridge and then heat it up in the microwave.

    The amount of rum/brandy depends on how strong you want it. Try adding a tablespoon - or teaspoon, if you're only doing a glass - at a time until you like it. You only have to experiment once and then you'll know the next time.

    I've never seen white mulled wine and I don't know whether it'd work with rum/brandy. You generally use dark rum or brandy rather than slivovice, which in any case I think tastes like paint stripper! But perhaps it'd work better in your white svařák because of the colour?

    And a dl is a decilitre ie a tenth of a litre. I know you don't use litres in America but don't you have duel measuring jugs? If not, I'm sure there's some conversion tool on the internet but if you can't find it, I'll look at my measuring jug and let you know what the equivalent is.
     
  5. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

  6. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Actually, Czech svařák usually does not contain any brandy or spirit - it is just wine. (Mulled wine with spirit and spice is called "punč" - punch and sold now everywhere in stands of Christmas fairs. In Olomouc, there are as many as 27 stands offering more than seventy different kinds of punč.)
    I personally make svařák in the following way - caramelize the caster sugar first, then add a small glass of wine to dissolve it, add cloves, cinnamon sticks, allspice, star anise, sliced orange or lemon (sometimes raisins) and pour in the rest of wine; let it reach the boiling point and always make it fresh. BTW, there is never anything left to store or reheat... :lol:
     
  7. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Some of the svařák I've had must have been pretty strong wine, then! And I'm deeply impressed by anyone who can be bothered to do it from scratch every time. To me it tastes just the same after a day in the fridge - just shows what a wine connoisseur I am!
    While we're on the subject of sugar, Jana, can I ask you for the Czech for the different sorts of sugar? After a year here, I'm still not sure. I don't do a lot of baking but I'm about to go shopping for Christmas pudding ingredients!
    Granulated sugar =
    Caster sugar =
    Golden caster sugar =
    Icing sugar =
    Demerara sugar =
    Soft brown sugar =
    Dark soft brown sugar =
     
  8. meluzina

    meluzina Well-Known Member

    my boyfriend makes what he calls "šumavský svařák"

    1 litre red wine
    1/2 litre rum (the tuzemak of today)
    1 jar plum compote
    cinnamon
    cloves
    honey to taste...


    found a similar recipe for "zálesácký svařák"

    1 litre red wine
    1/2 litre tuzemak (or less - according to taste)
    cinnamon, star anise, cloves, anise, fennel, vanilla
    sugar (according to taste)
    fruit


    and also this for "Svařené víno pro vánoční zahřátí." (mulled wine for christmas warmth) according to a swedish recipe though, so not quite czech...


    2 sticks cinnamon, broken into pieces
    1 teaspoon cardammon seeds
    1 slice fresh peeled ginger
    grated peel from 1/2 orange
    6 whole cloves
    120 ml water
    1 750ml botlle dry red wine
    250 ml port wine or madeira
    250 ml sugar
    120 ml blanched and dry roasted almonds
    120 ml dark raisins
     
  9. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Granulated sugar = cukr krystal
    Caster sugar = cukr krupice
    Golden caster sugar = not available in CR
    Icing (confectioner´s, powdered) sugar = cukr moučka
    Demerara sugar = třtinový cukr krystal
    Soft brown sugar = hnědý (přírodní) cukr krupice (světlý)
    Dark soft brown sugar = hnědý (přírodní) cukr krupice (tmavý)

    As far as cane sugar is concerned, there is not much choice here; you can find some in supermarkets (Tesco, Billa, Hypernova), but they usually sell just one or two kinds of brown sugar. White sugar sold in CR is made from sugar beet, not cane.
     
  10. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    So last night I made svařak with red wine and added a teaspoon of tuzemak to my glass. It was sooooooooo good, I had another glass. Needless to say, I'm at work with a headache! My tastebuds may have loved the mixture of wine, liquor, & sugar; but my head doesn't like it at all. :lol:
     
  11. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Thanks so much, Jana. I'm going to print that off and stick it in my notebook! Sod's law, my Christmas pudding recipe says to use golden caster sugar. I suppose soft brown will be the closest.
     
  12. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Told you! It's even tempted the boyfriend off the beer so it must be good!
     
  13. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    svařák sounds remarkably similar to sangria that we make here (as well as many other places) - usually served cold (iced) and is quite good. just shows that something that tastes that good can become pretty much universal - hot or cold. :)
     
  14. merseygirl

    merseygirl Member

    Hey thanxs for all the replies it was very interesting to see the variety of receipes to make this wine. I will give it a go and hopefully it will have the desired effect :D
     

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