Gløgg

The story

Denmark's version of spiced mulled wine, gløgg, shares its basic recipe with its Swedish and Norwegian neighbors: red wine simmered with cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel. In Danish homes, though, a little port or brandy is often added for strength, and the drink is served with raisins and almonds at the bottom of the cup, to be eaten with a small spoon once the wine is gone. Danes drink gløgg all December long at the Christmas markets (julemarkeder) that open as early as the end of November, where it is simmered outdoors in big kettles and sold in paper cups while the scent of cinnamon drifts across the whole square. Many families have a “secret” addition of their own, a sprig of rosemary or a drop of orange liqueur, that makes the recipe theirs. For Danish American communities, simmering gløgg at home during December is one of the most direct sensory ways of conjuring a Danish Christmas, because the smell of spiced wine on the stove has the power to change the mood of a room at once.