Alcohol-free mulled wine with tea: the recipe for spiced Christmas punch

How do you make an alcohol-free mulled wine with real flavour?

You need three elements: a hot infusion, a fruit juice and spices, heated together without boiling. This is the principle of Kinderpunsch, the alcohol-free punch of German Christmas markets. The German National Tourist Board, the Federal Agency for Civic Education and the Baden-Württemberg consumer advice centre all three make it with a fruit infusion, topped up with apple and orange juice, with cinnamon and cloves.

Tea gives the punch a base that juice alone lacks. With a spiced black tea such as Esprit de Noël, the leaf remains perceptible beneath the cinnamon and apple, and the cup keeps its structure. A rooibos brings a rounder, woody character instead, naturally caffeine-free: this is the base to choose when children are at the table.

The juice provides the colour and the sweetness. Apple juice is the one used in German recipes; it gives a clear, fruity drink. Red grape juice gives a dark colour and a deeper flavour, and some recipes mix the two in equal parts. The spices and the method stay the same.

The recipe for 4 cups

The proportions follow those of the reference recipes: roughly as much infusion as juice. The Baden-Württemberg consumer advice centre goes as far as two volumes of juice to one of infusion; for a fruitier punch, increase the juice, then, not the tea. Allow about 4 cups of 250 ml.

• 5 g of Esprit de Noël (or 2 cotton muslin tea sachets), or 6 to 8 g of Rooibos Veillée de Noël Orange
• 400 ml of water for the infusion
• 400 ml of red grape juice, or apple juice
• Juice of 2 oranges, and half an orange in slices
• 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 1 star anise if you like it
• 1 tablespoon of honey, only if needed

1. Steep the tea separately, at its own settings: Esprit de Noël, 5 minutes in water at 95 °C; Rooibos Veillée de Noël Orange, 7 to 10 minutes at 100 °C. Remove the leaves or the muslin sachets.

2. Pour the infusion into a saucepan with the grape juice, the orange juice, the spices and the orange slices.

3. Heat gently until it simmers, without letting it boil, then leave to infuse for about 30 minutes over a very low heat.

4. Taste, add the honey if needed, strain and serve hot.

The tea is steeped separately because the reference recipes begin by preparing the infusion, and only then add the juices. It thus keeps its settings, and only the fruit and spices spend the half-hour on the heat. The honey comes at the end, after tasting, as in the German Tourist Board's recipe: depending on the juice chosen, it may become unnecessary.

Which tea or rooibos should you choose for the base?

Choose a base whose aromas already lean towards punch: apple, orange, cinnamon. The table gives the main ingredients, the caffeine and the settings from each product page, with the measure adjusted to the recipe's 400 ml of water.

Esprit de Noël is a black tea, with moderate caffeine according to its product page, and it contains almond. The other four bases in the table are naturally caffeine-free; for the evening or for children, choose one of them: Richmond for a simple punch, cinnamon and orange; Rooibos Veillée de Noël Orange for clove-studded orange.

The Punch infusion and Noël Fruité Cannelle Orange are fruit infusions, like the base of the German recipes. They already bring apple, grape, hibiscus and spices: with them, taste the punch before adding the recipe's cinnamon and clove.

Mulled wine spices: whole or blended?

Cinnamon and clove appear in almost all the reference recipes. Star anise, vanilla, ginger and orange are added depending on the recipe. Whole, they flavour the punch during the half-hour simmer and are removed in one go when straining.

A ready-made blend saves gathering everything. Épices à Vin Chaud Tradition, by Ombelle, combines rosehip, orange peel, cinnamon sticks and clove. Its product page provides for this use: around ten minutes in simmering apple or grape juice, without boiling, then strain and sweeten to taste. In the recipe, it then replaces the cinnamon and clove.

Chai Épices de Vin Chaud, also by Ombelle, goes further into spice: fennel, anise, liquorice, ginger, cinnamon, clove and cardamom, with no fruit or tea. The liquorice gives it a natural sweetness that often lets you do without honey. Its preparation in apple juice is described in our guide to Ombelle Christmas infusions.

For a large gathering: quantities and keeping it hot

The recipe can be multiplied without changing the method: keep the same steeping settings and the same half-hour simmer. The Baden-Württemberg consumer advice centre allows about 3 litres for around fifteen people; in 250 ml cups, here are the quantities.

To keep the punch hot without bringing it back to the boil, pour it into a glass teapot set on a candle warmer. The Théière en Verre 'Finn' holds 0.9 l, almost the recipe for 4 cups, and its glass shows off the colour of the punch. For 8 or 12 cups, keep the rest in the covered saucepan over a very low heat, and refill the teapot as you serve. Our glass teapot guide explains how to choose and care for one.

The Réchaud Verre and the Réchaud Inox keep the teapot warm with a tealight slipped underneath. The first lets you see the flame through the glass and keeps the drink hot without bringing it back to the boil; the second, in stainless steel, suits most glass, porcelain or cast-iron teapots, according to its product page.