While at my in-laws over Thanksgiving my sweetie told a story of a horrible acoholic concoction her late dad made called “glug.” No one could remember the recipe aside from dad boiling raisins or possibly prunes to make his vile beverage. We wondered if it may have been just grog but everyone agreed that dad called it glug. Has anyone ever heard of glug and do you have a recipe?
Aha, I have got horribly blotto on this in the past. It’s a Scandinavian thing and it’s spelled “glögg” (hence the confusion with the spelling). The umlaut shortens the “o” sound. Here’s a recipe.
It’s so delicious, warming and sweet that its alcoholic content sneaks up on you without warning…
ahem, that’s “glögg”, O ye of little Scandinavian blood. Here’s a whole slew of recipes for you, so you can make your own variant and see if it tastes any better.
God Jul! 
on preview Damn you, jjimm, I wanted to be first! pouts
Damn you guys - I should’ve been first, seeing that I drink it quite frequently at this time of year. It doesn’t have to be hot - my newest favorite is best with ice, a slice of orange, as an aperitif.
Oh, and God Jul too you guys too.
Damn you guys are good.
Interesting that a few of you posted that it was good-tasting. Because I was a kid when my father whipped this drink up, I never drank it. My strongest memory of the stuff was coming home from school on the last day before the start of Christmas vacation, and the whole house reeked of his “glug!” It smelled absolutely vile, and house would be filled with this stench for days after my father made it. He was the only one who made it, and knowing my father, I am very sure he threw some of his own additions into the stew pot while it was cooking. Nobody has ever found his own personal recipe for this stuff, so my guess is that he used a recipe similar to one of these. Thanks for cluing us in
Mmmm glögg! I had glögg at morning coffee-break yesterday with lussekatter (soft bready scones with saffron) and pepparkakor (thin gingerbread cookies). I had some more at lunch, and then I had more glögg at the julbord (christmas food buffet) in the evening. GLÖGG! The earlier cups were saftglögg (non-alcoholic, more like cordial), the later ones starkvinsglögg (strong wine glögg).
Glögg is basically a type of mulled wine (very warm wine, sweetened and spiced) that is served in Scandinavia. The traditional way of drinking is a small cup with some raisins and peeled almonds in. I brought a few liters home to Ireland 2 years ago as my mother liked it on a visit. She came back out of the kitchen and presented us with a big coffee-mug full of glögg, filled half way up with raisins. mrsIteki is still laughing.
The Swedish guy who made it for me the first time I tried it had this strange contraption, like a large triangular metal spoon with a slot in it. He piled sugar into the spoon, poured liquor over it, and then lit it. The resulting caramel dripped into the glögg to sweeten it. Is this a common practice or just his peculiarity?
The mrs says she’s never heard of that, and finds it very amusing that I am reading about glögg. We both think the idea described sounds dee-vine however.
Having googled a bit, I found this (warning, Swedish pdf) which describes something very similar, with the sugar being held in a net above the wine, and caramalised through as you describe. It is claimed that this is what made the glögg progressivly stronger as time went on.
However, most people do the same as we do, and buy a bottle of prefab glögg from the Systembolaget (state off-licenses) and just warm it at home.
Waaaah, Christmas in Sweden! I want I want I WANT!!! pouts
I’ve never had glögg, but I noticed my local IKEA had bottles of concentrate for mixing with wine, etc. It’s imported from Sweden and the brand name is Saturnus. Does this concoction bear any resemblance to the real thing, or would you native glöggers feel the same way about this as I feel about bottled hard lemonade (which is a poor imitation of a great Southern tradition).
Micco - in my opinion it’s too sweet. Sweet wines, including glögg, needs to be carefully ballanced so it doesn’t resemble drinking liquid marmelade. My favorite brand Blossa 03 (site in Swedish), from Vin&Sprit, maker of Absolut Vodka, is spiced with ‘Seville oranges’ (at least that’s what my dictionary tells me), which adds a bitter tint and doesn’t make it so syrupy (is that a word?), much in the same way Creme Caramel mixes sweet and bitter.
To mix that Saturnus stuff, you should use a very, very dry red wine and for every two bottles you mix, add a pint of Vodka.
Olentzero - What? Rain, fog, strong winds and 35F weather? You’re welcome to it.
Everyone makes it from concentrate, and I’ve never met a gløgg purist. Not that this means they don’t excist. 