Christmas Drinks | Pomegranate Orange Mulled Wine | Spiced Cranberry Tea

Christmas Drinks – I have two for you! Wine and Fruity tea!

Pomegranate Orange Mulled Wine – Red wine simmered along with pomegranate juice, sliced oranges and spices!

Spice Cranberry Tea – Fresh cranberries simmered with spices and infused with green tea at the end!

“Hey, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

It's Christmas”

It’s Christmas tomorrow! Hope you have decorated your house with lovely flowers, scented candles, delicious cookies and flavored drinks. Santa Claus is on the way! Hope he gives the best Christmas present to you! How much a festival brings happiness? I have decorated my living room with flowers of various colors and scented candles. It’s finally Christmas here. Hope we will have a white snowy Christmas. How do you celebrate Christmas without snow?

So I do wish it snows heavily tonight and the town will be filled with a white blanket by tomorrow morning. And we will have a Snowy Christmas. Today is close to my heart as I landed in The United States the same day three years ago. It has been a journey of self-exploration and wonderful memories. How does time fly? I have shifted two companies and been in two different places in these three years. The journey has been so wonderful so far.

Hence, to celebrate my three years stay and to welcome Christmas, I prepared Mulled Wine. Wish SJ would have been here. I know he would shoot me with hundreds of questions about drinking Wine. And then I realized, my friend doesn’t drink and he says wine creates nausea for him. I don’t understand. Now, I had to make tea for him. I had loads of fresh Cranberries in my pantry. Why can’t I make fruit tea? Those fresh fruits simmered with spices and infused with green tea at the end. That sounded perfect. And it’s full of anti-oxidants! A cup of antioxidants and bursting fruity flavor! It’s a great option for detoxifying yourself.

Mulled Wine and Spiced Cranberry Tea – makes perfect companions, of course, weird one too.

Red wine simmered along with pomegranate juice, sliced oranges, and spices! And fresh cranberries simmered with spices and infused with green tea at the end! Along with some dark chocolate – hmmm…. That makes perfect for a chill evening!

Now to the recipe

Spiced Cranberry Tea

A hot cup of anti-oxidants prepared with fresh cranberries simmered with mild spices!

Ingredients:

4 cups Water
2 cups Fresh Cranberries
2 bags Green Tea (You can substitute with black tea)
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 -1 inch Ginger piece
1 Lemon (juice of 1 lemon and zest of 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon Honey (additional)

Method:

In a pot, add cranberries, water, cinnamon stick, ginger, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring it to boil.
Simmer it for about 10 minutes for the flavors to get infused in it.
Strain the water, add green bags and allow it to steep for about 5 minutes.
Serve warm. It tastes better hot but that doesn’t stop you from serving it cool too.
Enjoy your cup of anti-oxidants and detoxify.

Pomegranate Orange Mulled Wine

Serving Mulled Wine has been a tradition during Christmas and a perfect warm soothing drink for cold weather. The authentic Mulled wine is prepared with red wine along with half a cup of brandy. Since I don’t like it, I made it with red wine. You can add any citrus fruits you love to the wine. Orange being my favorite, I have added orange slices. Serve it warm and the addition of honey is optional.

Ingredients:

2 cups Red Wine
½ cup Fresh Pomegranate juice
1 Orange sliced
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Star Anise
Orange Slices for garnish
Cinnamon Stick for garnish
Star Anise for garnish
Few pome seeds for Garnish

Method:

In a pot, add wine, pome juice, cinnamon stick, star anise and orange slices.
Cook them in low flame and when it is about to boil, lower the flame.
Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes for the flavors to get steep in.
Strain the drink and serve warmly.
Ensure not to boil red wine as the wine will lose its flavor if boiled and tastes bitter.
Serve it warmly with few pomegranate seeds, an orange slice, and cinnamon stick.