So grog. The origin and recipe of this hot cocktail - and this is the category it falls into - is not so simple. Or vice versa, everything is too simple, according to Dmitry Merezhko, publisher of Simpe Wine News.
If you were in the 18th century on one of the Royal Navy ships, you would no doubt taste this mixture of … beer, lime juice, rum and water that would be cold. English Admiral Vernon considered that the sailors got drunk too quickly from undiluted rum, which was part of the English seafood ration right up to 1970, and came up with such a mixture that along the way also protected his sailors from scurvy. For a cape made of rough silk fabric, he received the nickname "Old Grog", and in his honor any mixture of strong alcohol with water was christened, and in Australia and New Zealand any drink is called that.
Where do we get the idea of hot grog? It turns out that we imported this word not from England, but from Scandinavia, where the traditional hot spicy cocktail is called “glog” (gløgg in Norwegian and Danish, glögg in Swedish and Icelandic, glögi in Finnish and Estonian). The basis of the drink can be both strong alcohol and fortified, dry or even non-alcoholic wine. We will, however, divide "hot grogs" into two types, differing in the alcohol used and the cooking sequence.
Mulled wine
The idea of heating wine with sugar (honey) and spices is as old as the wine itself, because the harvests were not always good in ancient times. Wine was “improved” in this way both in Ancient Rome and in Medieval Europe, so there are a lot of recipe options - as well as the names of the drink (by the way, we are the only Slavic peoples who use the “German” version - the rest call the drink “hot” or "Faithful" wine).
The common thing in the preparation of all "mulled wine" is that the alcohol base is heated together with other ingredients to a boil. Thus, part of the alcohol and volatile substances of the wine evaporates, but the aromas of spices and volatilized components are extracted.
Let's take the recipe from Italy. There, by the way, this drink in the French manner is called Vin Brulé - "burnt wine" (the French themselves use a different term).
For 6 servings:
- bottle of red wine from Trentino, Lombardy or Alto Adige (lagrein, teroldego or barbera)
- ¼ cups of white sugar
- 5 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 head of star anise
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 1 lemon peel
- 1 orange, sliced in circles
Cooking method:
Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and put it on medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to almost a boil, but do not boil. Strain in a heat-resistant pot, serve hot.
Hot Toddy
The main difference is that the base ingredient is strong alcohol. Initially, such was scotch, and, as in the case of "mulled wine", the task was to refine the taste of the distillate, for which the latter was diluted with water boiled with spices. However, nowadays, quite noble rums, brandy and single malt whiskeys can be used to make a drink, and the task in this case is not to hide their taste, but, on the contrary, to emphasize and enrich it. Therefore, we do not heat the alcohol at all, and we also try not to bring the solution of aromatic components to a boil so as not to lose the aromatic components.
According to one version, Toddy is named after a source near Edinburgh. The cocktail is so popular that it has its own holiday: January 11 is Hot Toddy's Day. I would venture to suggest my own version - "Toddy Far East".
Ingredients:
- 30 ml Japanese whiskey with a pronounced smoky note (for example, NikkPure Malt)
- 1 cm ginger root, peeled and cut into circles
- 1 curl of lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon sour mixture
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 120 ml freshly brewed oolong tea.
Cooking method:
Brew ginger tea. Warm the cups by rinsing them with boiling water. Pour whiskey into cups, then add hot tea. Pour in the acidic mixture, then add honey and stir until dissolved. Decorate with lemon curl, you can add a slice of orange.
You can change the ratio of ingredients, experiment with spices (galangal, cinnamon, lemongrass and others), add juniper or myrtle berries: the main thing is that you understand the essence of your manipulations: do you seek to emphasize the aromas of a noble drink, or hide the shortcomings of an inexpensive one. And never forget to use special heat-resistant Toddy glasses or regular teacups for serving.
Photo: Getty Images
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