Swedish Glögg: Hot Mulled Spiced Wine

Swedish Glögg is the ultimate festive warming holiday drink. It's easy to make and a delight for holiday gatherings. Here's my favorite way to make it.

What is Glögg?

Glögg (pronounce the "ö" like the "oo" in foot) is red wine and spirits, sugared, spiced, simmered ('mulled') and served hot, usually with raisins and almonds added.

Drinking glögg is Christmas tradition in Sweden and Finland (where they call it Gloggi). There's no better potion for warming up body and spirit on a dark winter day!

Swedish Glögg - The Recipe

If you turn to the web in search of the ultimate Swedish Glögg recipe, you'll find so many variations it's almost dizzying.

No two glögg recipes are the same. Some recipes call for Aquavit, some call for brandy. Still others include vodka. You will even find glögg recipe that recommends dousing sugar cubes in brandy and lighting them on fire in order to get a caramelized sugar flavoring into the mix.

But despite all the variations, at the heart of every glögg recipe is red wine, and and it doesn't have to be an expensive bottle because the sugar, spices and additional spirits add plenty of richness and flavor.

My One and Only Swedish Glögg recipe

After copious amounts of research and recipe testing (challenging my alcohol tolerance), I landed on this perfect mix of wine, port and brandy, infused with the traditional cinnamon-clove-cardamom spices and orange peel - pleasantly potent and enchantingly delicious.

Once you try this Glögg recipe, you'll understand why this drink is so popular in Sweden during the Christmas season and you'll want to make this for your next holiday party.

• The flavors are rich, spicy and enchanting
• This glögg goes down smooth and has the perfect potency for a festive occasion
• When Glögg simmers on the stove it sends scents of cinnamon, cardamom and clove wafting through the house, signaling to the senses that something special awaits
• After the last swig of Glögg, the fun continues with wine-soaked goodies at the bottom of the glass

Here's what you'll need to make this recipe

• A bottle of inexpensive dry red wine - such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cote Du Rhone or Merlot
• A bottle of inexpensive ruby port wine
• 2 cups brandy - such as Felipe II
• The peel of two oranges - for a festive garnish, use a citrus zester that makes strips
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• Whole spices - cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods
• Garnishes - almonds and dried cherries or dark seedless raisins - Raisins and almonds are a traditional garnish for Glögg but I tested sweetened sour cherries in place of raisins and I won't go back. They are the bomb!

How To Make Swedish Glögg

This is just a recipe overview; you will find the full ingredients and directions in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.

• Make a spice pouch: Wrap cardamom seeds, cinnamon sticks and cloves in cheese cloth and tie tightly with twine.
• Simmer: In a large pot combine wine, port, brandy, spice pouch, sugar and the peel of one orange. Heat gently, on low, for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour. The longer it steeps, the better. However never allow glögg it to boil or the alcohol will burn off.

Glögg tastes a little too good

I really enjoyed experimenting with this recipe. For several days I started sipping Swedish glögg sometimes as early as two or three in the afternoon which, by the way,  is about when the sun sets in Sweden in December.

I hope you'll forgive me if my photos look a little fuzzier than usual 🙂 Every delicious sip of Swedish glögg is a robust, spicy, warming treat. In fact, this drink is so smooth and enjoyable, you need to keeping reminding yourself that you're drinking an alcoholic beverage.

If you're looking for more festive holiday dishes, be sure to try Swedish Hassleback potatoes.

This is an updated post which I first shared in December of 2015. It has been revised with helpful information added to the written post and clearer instructions and helpful notes added to the recipe card.

Here's the Swedish glögg recipe. Skål!  (cheers!) If you try this recipe I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

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