Take the chill off with something complex, simple or spicy

The boiling point of ethanol (grain alcohol) is 173 degrees Fahrenheit. That may not be the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “warm cocktails,” but perhaps it should be. If you heat your beverages above that point, you may as well drink tea. When I think warm beverages, coffee drinks come to mind first, but there is a whole world of winter beverages out there. And for an unofficial winter housewarming party, there’s nothing better than mulled wine, French holiday cider and hot buttered rum. Even friends we didn’t expect to take part (including one who brought one small, watermelon-flavored malt beverage for the evening, anticipating we wouldn’t have anything better) enjoyed these hot concoctions. I started with mulled wine, made from a recipe culled from several I found on the Internet. Most called for medium- to full-bodied red wines with berry flavors, so I bought three inexpensive bottles of red wine (not quite Two Buck Chuck, but under $5). Before the guests were to arrive, I sliced lemons and oranges and added them to a bottle of Malbec in a saucepan on the stove. I added sugar, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon sticks and brandy to my mix, then carefully watched over the mixture (and a thermometer), as the citrus fruits turned blood red and small bits of pulp broke off and floated. When the wine felt hot enough (still before the guests had arrived) my husband and I sampled, and approved, the blend. Everyone wanted to try the mulled wine, so we quickly ran low. I decided to take a chance and go with a continuous mix, even though I had three different types of wines. Next into the mix went a Spanish red, then a California Zinfandel. As the mix progressed, it also received a larger dose of brandy and probably more of everything else, too – I tend to be generous when I drink. But by the time we switched over to buttered rum, we all agreed that the original Malbec mix was the best. The buttered rum was an even a bigger hit. It was both easier to make and easier to drink, with a less complex flavor – just sweet, buttered rum. When the light rum the recipe called for was gone, we tried dark rum. Learn from our mistake: Just go out and buy another bottle of light rum. Another warning: Don’t let your buttered rum sit and cool off, or you’ll look into your mug and see just how much butter you’ve been drinking. I was better off, I’m sure, before I knew. We were out of wine and rum, but we still had all the ingredients (despite my liberal use of brandy in the mulled wine) for French holiday cider, a mix of spicy apple cider and brandy with brown sugar, vanilla extract and lemon. I followed the recipe for this one, with one exception: I heated the cider and the brandy in the same pan, again watching the temperature quite closely, although by that point in the evening, I could have boiled all the alcohol out and it’s likely no one would have noticed. The cider was another success, although I made it again another night, just to be certain I really liked it. Garnished with a cinnamon stick in a large brandy snifter, the cider – or a mug of mulled wine or buttered rum – will easily warm up any house, any friendship, any night.