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| Mulled wine. [JoongAng Photo] |
Nothing beats a steaming mug of something warm when the temperature drops. If you’re getting tired of the constant coffees, here are some other options you can easily brew up at home.
Hot wine - A European cure-all
For Andreas Krampl, an executive chef at JW Marriott Seoul, the first drink that comes to mind when it’s getting cold out is mulled wine. The German chef has been mulling a big pot of the Christmasy drink at this time of year with his fellow chefs ever since he started traveling around the world. “We really missed Christmas Day so we decided to make a big pot of spiced wine when I worked in Israel.”
Hot wine originates in Europe, where it was originally used to prevent colds or to give you an extra boost to get you through the day. It’s a staple at Europe’s Christmas markets, where people enjoy a hot wine to keep the chill away as Koreans would sip a hot cup of coffee.
As it’s enjoyed in many countries, hot wine has many names. It is called gluhwein in German, vin chaud in French and mulled wine in English.
One of the great things about it is that it’s relatively simple to make. There are many variations, but for a simple cup to warm you up, you just pour a bottle of wine into a pot and simmer it with fruit, cinnamon and honey for about half an hour. The combination of spices varies depending on your personal preference or regional background.
Wines that are full of fruity flavors such as Pinot Noir, Merlot or Shiraz are best. You can also throw in a bit of orange or lemon juice to taste when simmering.
“You don’t have to use expensive wine when making hot wine,” says sommelier Jeong Min-seo. “Everyone has some leftover wine at home. You can just use that.”
As much of the alcohol evaporates while simmering, hot wine is good for people who can’t usually handle their booze. It will also get your blood flowing, and few things are better for warming you up if you have the chills.
Latte - Milk makeover
Kim Bo-eun, an author of “Organic Cafe Drinks,” says the best winter beverages are milk-based. She says milk warms you up and is better for you than coffee-based drinks.
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| Dried tangerine peel latte. Provided by Design Eum |
The options are endless, but sweet pumpkins, sweet potatoes, bean powder, dried tangerine peels and yuzu tea go particularly well with milk.
The sweet potato latte is one of the most popular options at cafes. Most places use sweet potato-flavored powder but it tastes much better when you go with the real thing.
You’ll need a half a sweet potato (around 100 grams) for one latte. In a pinch, you can steam it, but baked is best. You’ll know it’s ready when the skin starts to ooze. Then you peel it, drop it in the milk and mix it all together with a blender. Pour the mixture into a pan to warm it up and add some honey or agave nectar.
The heating of the milk is a key part of the process because if the heat’s too high you get a skim. The high temperature also brings out an unfortunate fishy flavor.
You want to aim for 50 to 60 degrees Celsius. You’ll know you’re getting to the right temperature when the milk begins to blister at the edge of the pan.
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| Sweet pumpkin latte. Provided by Design Eum |
To be able to have a latte ready to go whenever you want one, all you need to do is prep the sweet potato mash with honey in advance and freeze it into individual servings. You can do the same thing with sweet pumpkin.
Next up are dried tangerine peel lattes, which are great for this sniffly time of year because they help with coughs and colds.
Rinse dried tangerine peels with running water then soak them in cold water for 15 minutes. Then pour the water into a pan along with two tablespoons of yuzu tea and some steamed milk.
You can get dried tangerine peels at the supermarket or from a herbal shop. Or you can just make them at home by yourself by rubbing the peels down with coarse mineral salt and drying them out completely.
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| Hot chocolate. [JoongAng Photo] |
French chef and chocolatier Yannick Chevolleau, who heads up the Korea and Japan branches of Godiva Chocolatier, starts his day with a hot chocolate because he believes it gives him the energy he needs to face the day.
“I usually make a hot chocolate with Godiva chocolate powder and steamed milk. And then I top the hot chocolate with some slices of real chocolate,” he says.
And he’s right: the high calorie content in hot chocolate does indeed give you an energy boost.
The reigning king of winter drinks, hot chocolate has a long tradition. In fact, chocolate was originally only drunk; solid chocolate wasn’t developed until after the Industrial Revolution.
But it is hard to expect a rich, deep aroma and the taste of cacao from most ready-made hot chocolate powder. That’s because they lack cacao butter as they’re processed into powder. Other additives are also added during the process.
For this reason, Han Ye-seok, the director of the Chocolate Museum on Jeju Island, says the best way to enjoy a genuine hot chocolate is make it with a chunk of high quality chocolate that has a high cacao percentage.
“In Mexico, which is the home of chocolate, people stick to the traditional way. They grind the cacao beans with a millstone and then mix them with milk,” says Han.
At the Chocolate Museum, they slice some 65 percent cacao chocolate into a pan and warm it up with milk. A cup is usually topped with a little cinnamon powder. They’ve also been known to add a fortifying shot of liquor, or even a dash of chilli powder.
Rosehip and eucalyptus - Keeping colds at bay
Jeong Seung-ho, the head of the Korea Tea Sommelier Institute, recommends rosehip and eucalyptus to stave off colds.
“Rosehip is often dubbed a vitamin C bomb as it contains 20 times more vitamin C than a lemon.”
And eucalyptus is excellent for nasal congestion and sore throats, he says.
By Lee Ji-young, Sung So-young [so@joongang.co.kr]
