Non-Alcoholic Mulled Punch
Wine brings three things to a mulled drink: acid, tannin and body. Juice brings only sweetness, so the rest has to be built. Strong black tea supplies the tannin, lemon the acid, and water keeps it from cloying. Skip those three and you get hot compote.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 140 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Hibiscus works instead of black tea and brings tannin, acid and a bright ruby colour all at once. Then you need less lemon.
Makes: 1 litre, 4 mugs
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Simmer spices in water
Simmer 200 ml of water with the cinnamon, cloves and ginger for 5 minutes. There is no alcohol to lose here, and spices give up their flavour best in plain water.
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Step 2: Steep the tea
Off the heat, add the tea leaves and leave for 4 minutes, no longer. The tea contributes the tannin the juices lack; over-steeped, it turns from grippy to plain bitter.
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Step 3: Strain the base
Pour the infusion through a sieve to get rid of the leaves. The spices can go back into the pan, they still have work to do.
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Step 4: Add the juices
Pour in the grape and cherry juice. Dark grape gives colour and body, sour cherry gives acidity and depth; grape alone tastes flat.
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Step 5: Heat to 80 °C
Do not let it boil. Boiled juice takes on a stewed, jammy note and loses the fresh fruit aroma that makes the punch worth drinking.
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Step 6: Balance with acid
Add the lemon juice and taste. Sugar is not needed — the juices are sweet enough — but acid almost always is, and it is what makes this read as mulled wine.
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Step 7: Infuse and serve
Cover, leave for 10 minutes, add orange slices and pour into warmed mugs.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The usual reason alcohol-free mulled drinks disappoint is sheer sweetness. Dilute the juice with water confidently, up to a third of the volume.
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Swap
Hibiscus works instead of black tea and brings tannin, acid and a bright ruby colour all at once. Then you need less lemon.
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Variation
Apple juice with cranberry makes a lighter version; cardamom and vanilla suit it better than cloves.
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Storage
Two days in the fridge. Fish the orange out first — overnight the peel makes everything bitter.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 140 kcal | 560 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 4 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 33 g | 132 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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