Feuerzangenbowle

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 liters of red wine, dry wine such as Merlot
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 3 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 2 allspice berries
• 2 juniper berries
• 3 fruit tea bags
• 3 orange(s), untreated
• 1 lemon(s), untreated
• 1 Sugarloaf
• 200 ml brown rum, min. 54% vol.

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours

the cult drink for New Year’s Eve

You will need a punch bowl and fire tongs. Pour the wine into a saucepan. Halve the vanilla pod and cut it lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a knife, and add it to the saucepan along with the rest of the vanilla pod. Add the cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, allspice berries, juniper berries, and tea bags. It’s best to attach the tea bags to the handle of the pot to make them easier to remove later and to prevent them from accidentally falling into the pot. If you want to avoid the hassle of straining/filtering later, you can put the spices and the rest of the vanilla pod into a tea bag and hang it in the saucepan. Wash the oranges and lemon thoroughly. Slice one orange and half a lemon. Juice the rest of the fruit and add it to the saucepan along with the slices. If you can’t find untreated oranges or lemons, you can also juice the whole thing, but it looks nicer with the slices in the punch. Now heat the punch slowly over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Please ensure that the wine does not start to boil. Now remove the pot from the heat, remove the fruit tea, and let the punch cool down. The spices should remain in the pot. Then give the punch at least 4 hours to develop its full flavor. I usually let my punch stand covered overnight. Now bring the punch back to the desired drinking temperature and then remove the spices. If you put the spices in a tea bag beforehand, it will be much easier and you can just remove the tea bag. If you had the spices loose in the pot, strain the punch over the punch bowl. The orange and lemon slices can be added back in as desired, if desired. Place the fire tongs with the sugarloaf on the bowl and slowly soak the sugarloaf with the rum. The rum should be no less than 54% ABV, as it needs to burn. Then use a lighter to ignite the soaked sugarloaf. Once the rum is almost burned, repeat the process until the sugarloaf has completely melted. Please do not pour the rum directly from the bottle, as this could cause flare-ups. It’s best to always use a spoon or a small ladle. Enjoy!