Last week I got a first impression of how the upcoming winter here in Aizu would be like. Having up to 20 degrees again this week, it is hard for me to believe that it was snowing very hard only one week before. Until then I didn’t need any heating device, but it was absolutely indispensable for these nights. So as usual I was looking for some “Japanese experience”, some device which isn’t used at my home country. Finally I bought a kerosene heater. I was told that this kind of heater is quite dated but still common in use. And I have to admit, that it’s got that certain something when you fill up your heater with kerosene and are sitting then next to an open, warming fire in your apartment.

But in fact these days reminded me, that it’s time to start to prepare for the colder days. And I was reminded of things I love to do in Germany at very cold times. And being warmed the Japanese way while I am at home, I would like to share the German way of warming while being outside. So I would like to introduce a recipe for Glühwein.

The following ingredients are needed for about one liter of Glühwein:

• 3/4 l of red wine
• 1/8 l of water
• 1/2 lemon (pressed)
• 200 g honey
• 1 entire cinnamon stick
• some dried cloves

Heat the water with the lemon-juice, the honey, the cinnamon stick and the cloves until the spices give off their flavor. Avoid to make it boiling, because that could change the flavor of the spices disadvantageously. Add the red wine and heat the whole mixture avoiding to boil it, again. The best heating-temperature to keep the alcohol of the wine is under 80°C.

So now the Glühwein is ready to be filled in a thermos jug for example and to be enjoyed while watching a beautiful autumn or winter scenery at low temperatures.

Please enjoy.

Frederik