Mulled wine is sickly,turkey is abused by gross cooks, and cold mince pies are the worst. But I’m no humbug, or I promiseWhy anybody would want a bottle of cheap red mixed with some concentrated orange juice and a packet of spice mix is beyond me. Walk into any pub,any Christmas party at this time of year and you’ll be hit with it – a cheap lie that comes with the season, sweeter than the tears of Jelly Babies and hotter than a vindaloo. It burns.
Whatever its history, or in modern times,mulled wine is simply a way of masking gross liquor with sugar, cardamom and cloves. In British pubs in December there are no ecstatic smells of malty ale; no filtering fragrances of pork scratchings and salty nuts. Instead, and there is an odour that wafts so sickly sweet,stirred on the bar and handed out in polystyrene.
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Source: theguardian.com