Glühwein – also called mulled wine with different spices – is extremely popular. Nowadays you can find this snack at almost every Christmas market, ice rink or winter sports location. The sweet smell in combination with the smell of the herbs evokes memories of a white winter. Did you know that the alcohol-free mulled wine is even easier to make than the version with alcohol?

When making the version with alcohol, it is important to make sure that the wine does not boil. When the wine starts to boil, the alcohol evaporates. You don’t have to take that into account with the alcohol-free variant! In this blog you can read how to make non-alcoholic mulled wine with grape or berry juice, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, honey and (organic) lemon and orange.

History of mulled wine

Centuries ago, mulled wine (with alcohol) originated in the Middle Ages. The recipe was developed in Germany and contains wine, various herbs and fruits as main ingredients. Drinking mulled wine has become a real tradition in Germany, so you can’t visit a Christmas market without encountering mulled wine.

More and more you see non-alcoholic drinks and people insert a so-called detox month. There used to be a taboo here, but luckily this taboo is a thing of the past. There are plenty of reasons to drink alcohol-free, such as pregnancy, not feeling like a hangover or because it’s just delicious. Want to make your own non-alcoholic mulled wine? Then read on for the recipe!

Ingredients for the non-alcoholic mulled wine

You will need the following ingredients to make about a liter of non-alcoholic mulled wine (equivalent to about 4-6 glasses):

• 1 liter red grape juice or berry juice
• 300ml water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1 (organic) orange
• 1 (organic) lemon
• 10 cloves
• Sugar, sweetener or honey as desired

Making non-alcoholic mulled wine: how?

Step 1: Pour the grape juice or berry juice and the water into a large pan and put it on the stove. Add the cinnamon stick and star anise.

Step 2: Cut the citrus fruit into four pieces – after washing under the warm tap. Put a clove in each of the four pieces.

Step 3: Add the orange and lemon to the pan on the stove. Are you having a drink of the non-alcoholic mulled wine? Then turn the heat down to low for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Step 4: The advantage of making non-alcoholic mulled wine yourself? You can decide for yourself how sweet you make this snack. Do you miss the sweet taste? Add sugar, sweetener or honey to taste.

Do you not like bits in your mulled wine? You can remove the pieces from non-alcoholic mulled wine with a sieve. Do you have an orange lying around? Then make curls of the peel with a vegetable peeler. Nice to decorate your glasses or cups!

Can’t drink your non-alcoholic mulled wine in one go? Fortunately, you can easily store it in the fridge. If you have not yet sieved the pieces in your snack, it is useful to do so now. Then pour your homemade mulled wine into a bottle and put it in the fridge. You can enjoy it for another day or three!

Do you want to reheat the alcohol-free mulled wine? Pour the snack into a pan and put it on low heat for about fifteen minutes. Did you know that the non-alcoholic version of the mulled wine – in contrast to the version with alcohol – is also very tasty to drink cold? Give it a try!

Enjoy your non-alcoholic mulled wine during a stay in a cozy tiny house in Friesland or visit the German Christmas markets with an electric camper and taste the mulled wine at the place of origin!

The post How do you make non-alcoholic mulled wine? The recipe for this winter appeared first on Sustainaway.

Glühwein – literally glowing wine – is an alcoholic drink that is mainly drunk in the period just before Christmas. The recipe for making mulled wine is based on the customs of centuries ago. For example, the Romans already added herbs to their wine.

Today, no Christmas market, ice rink or winter sports location can do without mulled wine. The sweet and spicy scent of this alcoholic beverage instantly evokes memories of Christmas Eve and cold, white winters. Do you want to make mulled wine yourself? In this blog you can read how to make the best mulled wine to get through the winter days warm!

History of mulled wine

The history of mulled wine goes back centuries. As we know the alcoholic snack, it originated in the Middle Ages. In Germany, a recipe was developed based on a mixture of wine, herbs and fruit. For years, drinking mulled wine has been considered a tradition on the German Christmas market. Do you want to make your own mulled wine? Then read on for the recipe!

Ingredients

The ingredients you need for about 8 glasses:

• half lemon
• 2 oranges
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 cloves
• 3 cardamom grains
• 2 pieces star anise
• 2 liters of smooth red wine (You can’t taste the difference between expensive or cheap wine, because you make the mulled wine with all kinds of spices)
• 3 tablespoons sugar or sweetener

Make your own mulled wine: how?

This recipe is a traditional mulled wine recipe. The advantage of making mulled wine yourself is that you can add ingredients to your own taste. Would you like a splash of cognac? Add extra citrus fruits? You can vary endlessly.

Step 1 : Take a large pan into which you empty the red wine. Place this pan on a very low heat. The wine is not supposed to boil, as the alcohol will then evaporate.

Step 2 : Cut the lemon and one orange into thin slices. Add these slices, the cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and cardamom to the pan of warm wine.

Step 3 : The zest of the other orange can be used to peel curls. Making these curls is easiest with a vegetable peeler. Add half of the curls to the pan. The other half can be used to garnish the glass.

Step 4 : Do you have any orange left? Squeeze the juice into the pan and add sugar or sweetener to taste.

Step 5 : Leave the pan with wine and ingredients on a low heat for about 30 to 40 minutes. Again it is important that the mulled wine does not boil, so that the alcohol is not evaporated.

Don’t like bits in your mulled wine? Making your own mulled wine has a big advantage: you can present it according to your own wishes. Optionally, you can choose to remove all pieces from the mulled wine with a sieve. Finish the mulled wine with orange curls!

Is your homemade mulled wine not quite finished? It is best to keep these in the fridge. The mulled wine will keep for about as long as the normal red wine after it has been opened. We recommend that you keep it in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days.

Don’t feel like making your own mulled wine? Go out with an electric camper during the Christmas holidays and visit the German Christmas markets for the real Christmas feeling!

The post Make your own mulled wine | The tastiest traditional recipe! appeared first on Sustainaway.

Are you going on holiday and do you want to eat sustainably while traveling? You are no longer in your own kitchen, you don’t have your own stuff around you -besides what’s in your suitcase or backpack- and you don’t know the local restaurants and shops. More and more restaurants, shops and hotels are adopting sustainable principles.

In this blog you can read about the rules of thumb for sustainable food and you will receive tips about sustainable food while traveling.

Tips for sustainable food while traveling

Rules of thumb for sustainable eating

The production and consumption of food accounts for 20 to 35% of the environmental burden and of the emission of greenhouse gases. You do sustainable food by not eating and buying more than you need. In addition, you can choose to replace environmentally harmful animal protein-rich products such as meat and cheese with less harmful products such as legumes.

Sustainable food while traveling has the same rules of thumb. You can search for restaurants that apply the principles of sustainable eating: plant-based food, less waste, local and seasonal products, organic food and purchasing packaging-free goods.

Restaurant quality marks when you want to eat sustainably while traveling

Restaurants receive a quality mark when they are concerned with sustainability. When you are looking for a sustainable restaurant, you can look at the presence of these sustainable labels. So you have the Green Key Restaurants. A restaurant receives this quality mark when they make conscious choices in the field of sustainability both indoors and outdoors. You see more and more organic seasonal products on the menu. Economical use of energy, water and the separation of waste are also taken into account with this quality mark. When you are looking for a restaurant for sustainable food while traveling, you can check whether the restaurant is registered as a member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association . This organization helps restaurants become more sustainable on all kinds of fronts. When you visit the website, you get an overview of all participating restaurants.

How do you find sustainable restaurants and shops when you travel?

The first tip for sustainable food when traveling is to travel well prepared. For example, ask at your accommodation about restaurants that are sustainable, organic or vegetarian. Or ask for a shop where you can buy local products. Search engines such as Google and Ecosia also make it possible to find out whether there are suitable sustainable restaurants. The second tip for sustainable food when traveling is to avoid all-in or all-you-can-eat formulas. All-inclusive leads to overconsumption and waste. How many times have you bragged too much at an all-you-can-eat restaurant? This tip applies to both restaurants and hotels. The last tip for sustainable food when traveling is to visit local shops and eateries. For example, go to atmospheric markets instead of the supermarket or visit a local farmer. How do you know about local eateries? For example, ask local residents or do online research.

Sustainable travel is very easy with these tips! Book a sustainable accommodation directly to make your stay even greener.

The post Sustainable food while traveling: how do you do that? appeared first on Sustainaway.

With every journey comes CO2 emissions, whether you go by plane, car, boat or train. By calculating how much you emit during a holiday, you can choose the most sustainable option or exactly compensate your emissions. To calculate your own CO2 emissions from a trip, you can use an online CO2 calculator. This calculator will estimate the total emissions of your trip based on your mode of transport and destination. Many of these calculators mainly look at the mode of transport and the number of kilometers you make to your travel destination. The CO2 emissions of your trip outside of transport are more difficult to calculate.

Calculate your CO2 emissions journey yourself

If you prefer to calculate yourself how much CO2 you emit during your trip, there are a number of things you should take into account. For example, there is no less than 7 to 11 times as much emission tax on a plane trip than with a train on the same route. Compared to a car , a flight is about 2 to 4 times more polluting . These numbers all depend on how many people are going and how far away the destination is. You will find the biggest differences between the CO2 emissions of your trip if you have a short travel distance. For short travel distances, air traffic is relatively the most polluting compared to car traffic or the train.

Calculate the CO2 emissions of your car journey

When calculating the CO2 emissions of your trip, there are also small things that are important for the calculation. For example, when you travel by car, you need more fuel if you have a caravan behind your exhaust or if you have a roof box or bicycle rack with you. In general, the more weight you carry, the more polluting the car journey is and the more CO2 your car emits. There are a number of standard calculations that you can use when traveling by car. For example, with diesel you emit an average of 132 gr of CO2 per kilometer, while with petrol this is 120 CO2 per kilometer . These emissions are calculated on average consumption. This can therefore differ greatly based on weight and car.

Calculate CO2 emissions from air travel

The average CO2 emissions from a flight is 285 g CO2 per kilometer based on someone traveling alone. You can use this number, but it differs per distance and also per aircraft how high the emissions are. It is possible that you sometimes come across the term CO2e in CO2 calculations. For air travel, this is used to indicate other harmful greenhouse gases. These gases are converted to this term because one CO2e is equal to the effect that 1 kilogram of CO2 has. This way you can get an easy overview of all harmful substances that are emitted during your flight.

What do you do with your CO2 calculation?

Once you have calculated the CO2 emissions of your trip, it is important to do something with it. There are many options online to easily offset your emissions. However, there is also a disadvantage with CO2 compensation; you do not reverse the pollution with it. The CO2 emitted by your journey is in the air and no matter how many trees you plant, the specific CO2 remains in the air. It is best to calculate the CO2 before your trip and choose the most sustainable trip based on that. This way you ensure in advance that too many emissions do not end up in the air and that you no longer have to compensate anything.

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