The drink that captivates with both smell and flavour, likes good company but can equally be enjoyed in solitude

Mulled wine takes up a special place on the holiday menu. It suits both the family table, our own living space or our favourite restaurants or cafes. This just emphasizes the fact that, in autumn and winter, mulled wine is served everywhere as it is one of those favourite, traditional beverages. Wine in itself is a global drink, as there is no place in the world where it is either undiscovered or unloved. Mulled wine is a specialty of its own kind, very spread out in Europe, a type of “winter tea” of an intoxicating, sweet taste. There are hundreds of recipes prescribing precisely how this wine is brewed, primarily because of the added sugar, but all these recipes actually differ in details. The special aroma of this beverage comes from spices, which give it a sophisticated scent and complement its flavour. Cinnamon, nutmeg and, in some regions, pepper. A slice of orange or some other fruit, added to the cup once the warm drink is poured, is always a welcome option for hedonists. Due to the popularity of certain beverages, their consumption has become ritualized. The ritual is usually born in a certain culture, but often spreads far and wide. Thus, coffee is enjoyed in the morning, world-wide, with certain peoples creating specific rituals, emblemat ic of their culture. In Italy, this means you take your coffee quickly, standing at a bar; in America, it comes with your breakfast as filter coffee, while in Serbia, morning coffee happens before anything else. The English have made 5 p.m. famous as “tea time” and all these habits are rooted in lifestyles or in the properties of the beverages themselves. Caffeine, for instance, due to its well-known properties, is rarely consumed in the evening. As a somewhat “heavier” beverage, enriched in sugar, mulled wine is usually served in the afternoon, after lunch at the earliest and by 6 p.m. at the latest. This is as due to the presence of alcohol as it is to its caloric value. Actually, mulled wine is seen as a treat, like punch or Christmas eggnog and is enjoyed accordingly. Some believe in its medicinal properties, but no one has any doubts about its ability to spice up winter.