Mulled wine syrup

Mulled wine syrup. Spices, citrus peel and cane sugar for mulled wine made from your own wine.

Schuster's Shrub calls its alcohol-free spice syrup Mulled wine syrup, with which you can make mulled wine from your own wine or children's punch from juice. No pre-made mulled wine, no vinegar-based shrub, no flavouring syrup.

Mulled wine syrup is a spice syrup from the Schuster family manufactory in Untersteinbach in the Steigerwald, brewed from cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, cardamom, and orange and lemon peel. It solves the problem many have with pre-made mulled wine. The wine in it is often simple, the sweetness too loud, and the spices taste like they come from a bag. With this syrup, you choose the wine yourself and dose the spice to taste. The pot on the stove then smells of Advent, not of a Tetrapack.

Warm spices, fresh peel, a hint of caramel

The syrup first tastes of cinnamon and cloves, then of orange peel, and star anise adds a slightly licorice-like note underneath. Cardamom brings a fresh, almost cool sharpness to the mixture. The brown cane sugar gives colour and a mild caramel tone.

In the glass, it is deep brown and noticeably thicker than wine. Tasted pure, it is very intense; it is intended as a concentrate. Diluted in red wine, it results in a mulled wine where the wine remains recognizable and the spices accompany it.

Anyone who drinks their mulled wine dry and barely sweetened will find the syrup too sweet at the usual dosage. Then start with half the amount and spice up with a cinnamon stick afterwards. It is not suitable for drinking pure; without wine, juice, or tea, it does not make a drink.

Red wine, white wine, juice and tea

For a classic mulled wine, add around 40 to 50 ml of syrup to 200 ml of red wine and warm both slowly. Do not let the wine boil, otherwise the alcohol evaporates and the delicate aromas are lost. A fruity, simple red wine without much oak, such as a Dornfelder or Spätburgunder, is well suited.

Without alcohol, the syrup works with red grape juice, apple juice, or a strong fruit tea. This way, children and drivers get the same aroma in the cup as the other guests. For a quick winter tea, one tablespoon of syrup is enough in a cup of black tea with an orange slice.

In the kitchen, it refines pears, which you poach in red wine with a dash of syrup until they are dark red. A baked apple also gets a spicy glaze with a spoon of syrup instead of sugar. Anyone cooking red cabbage can replace part of the sugar with syrup.

It also has its place when cold. One teaspoon in a glass of sparkling wine makes it a winter aperitif with a cinnamon note. Drizzled over vanilla ice cream, it replaces a spice sauce, for which you would otherwise stand at the stove for half an hour.

Our tip: Prepare a large pot with only half the syrup for guests. Place the bottle next to it, then everyone can sweeten to taste. This way you avoid a mulled wine that is too sweet for everyone.

An extract in water from a Franconian family kitchen

Behind Schuster's Shrub are Gabriele and Hanna Schuster from Untersteinbach, a village in the Franconian Steigerwald. The manufactory became known for its shrubs, fruit syrups based on apple cider vinegar. The mulled wine syrup is an exception in the range, because it comes without vinegar.

The spices are extracted in water and then boiled down with brown cane sugar into a syrup. Water dissolves the aromatic substances of cinnamon, cloves, and peel more thoroughly at boiling temperature than would be possible in a mulled wine pot. The finished syrup therefore carries the spice concentrated within it. The manufactory does not use additives such as flavourings, colourings, or preservatives.

Star anise and cardamom have been part of European spiced wine for centuries. Already in the Middle Ages, wines were brewed with expensive spices from the Orient, often sweetened with honey. Today's mulled wine at Christmas markets is a simplified form of this tradition.

The bottle holds 250 ml and is enough for about five to six glasses of mulled wine. Sealed, the syrup lasts a long time; after opening, thanks to the high sugar content, it remains usable throughout the entire winter season. Stored cool and dark, it retains its aroma best.

The bottle for the Advent evening

What distinguishes the syrup from mulled wine spice in a tea bag is the speed. You do not have to steep anything or strain anything; the aroma is immediately in the glass. The label bears the gold award of the Selection gourmet magazine.

As a gift for the Advent party, a bottle together with a red wine that the host can use immediately is perfect. Anyone who prefers to mix spices themselves will find the mulled wine spice by Ingo Holland. For the rest of the year, there are the fruit syrups from the same manufactory, such as the Shrub Orange-Cardamom.

A dash in your own wine, and the evening smells like a Christmas market, without you having to stand in the cold for it.