Gluhwein

A tasty treat during the holidays is the German gluhwein, I don't know what it translates to, but it is a spiced red wine. I first had this lovely concoction in Texas at our staff Christmas party. The woman hosting the party was Dutch, married to a soldier and had lived in Germany for six years as a military spouse. She had a big roasting pan simmering on the counter with orange slices floating in it. She asked me if I'd like some gluhwein, and I had to ask her to pronounce it a few times. I'm sure I still say the word with my Nebraska flatness.
What I got in my little cup was a little taste of Christmas deliciousness. The red wine, of which I'm not a fan, was transformed into mulled spicy goodness. She had added cinnamon sticks, cloves, oranges and I wasn't sure what else, but I was in love. Since I had driven myself to the party, I had to limit myself to one cup, but I thought of it many times until the next Christmas when we had staff party.
Gluhwein was something I knew I had to learn how to make when we moved over here. I had looked over many recipes online, but really wanted to know her secret recipe. Via a mutual Facebook friend, I found out. She had family still in The Netherlands send them to her at Christmas time since she had never found them in the States. They look like tea bags, but are written in German and are just for gluhwein.
When we went to Garmisch, we went on the mission to find these little bags. We found a couple of different brands in the alcohol section of the grocery stores we went to. I was so excited, I bought enough to get me through several bottles of wine.
Wednesday this week, I'm hosting the International Choir Christmas social (I know, sounds fancy, right?) My goal is to have some tasty gluhwein that night. I tried out the tea bag tonight and know that it will take the extra spices and fruit along with the bags, and maybe a little sugar to make it taste more like what I had six years ago, but I'm making it. I can only hope it will be as good as hers was.