Make Christmas Mulled Wine Totally Debris-Free With This Spice Technique

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

There's not a lot of beverages that are more cozy than mulled wine. Fortunately, making mulled wine couldn't be easier since all you need to do is simmer your choice of wine (red or white) on low with whichever warming pantry spices you might have along with some fruit and a touch of sugar (as much as you want to reach your desired sweetness level). But the thing is, those warm spices tend to be woody ones, like cinnamon and cloves, which means there's a decent chance you might get small, splinter-like fragments of spice floating around in your cup.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to prevent this from happening by using a sachet. Simply take a reusable cheesecloth, fill it with the desired spices, and let that float around in your wine as you're simmering it. Once your mulled wine has enough flavor in it all you have to do is remove the sachet and dispose of the contents of the bag. As an added bonus, cheesecloth is made of cotton which means you can wash it and use it again later. There's nothing stopping you from simmering mulled wine the traditional way if you want to keep the dramatic visual aspect of the cinnamon sticks or star anise in there, but consider the sachet as an option if you're looking for a minimal presentation.

Don't forget, this little technique isn't limited to mulled wine. Since cold weather drinks cover a whole variety of things, you can use homemade spice sachets for beverages like non-alcoholic mulled wines, cider, certain types of clear tea you can enjoy on a more regular basis, and even bone broth for sipping to comfort you on a chilly day. After all, these sachets are basically designed to be an easy way to not have to tediously fish herbs or spices out of a stockpot once you're done simmering them.

If you agitate the sachet too much, there's a slight chance you can knock out some tiny particles from your spices which can cause a negligible bit of sediment, so it's best to generally let it do its thing and not stir it too vigorously. But otherwise, the only limit to your mulled wine's flavor is what you have on hand, so feel free to be creative. I'm sure that cardamom you've been sitting on for a while would love to be put to good use.