This rather unpromising-looking tub contains one of the best Christmas traditions we’ve started in recent years – the rolling mull.

Now your average mulled wine would be made by putting red wine in a pan along with orange juice, sliced fruit, sugar, an assortment of spices and a splash of brandy, then heating until it’s at a suitable drinking temperature.  You heat slowly so the spices have a bit of time to soak into the wine.

This method moves the fruit and spices out of the pan and into the pot, where they’ve got as long as you want to mature and infuse.

In that pot is:

• 2 bottles of red wine
• A couple of cinnamon sticks
• 2 sliced oranges
• 1 chopped apple
• A handful of peppercorns
• Several star anise
• A few green cardamom pods
• 2 dried chillies.  Note to self, do *not* use habanero here, it adds a bit much of a kick!
• Toasted flaked almonds

So when it comes to making the mulled wine, you pour however much you want out of the container into the pan, add the sugar, orange juice, and brandy, then heat as before.  Oh, and then you top up the container ready for next time.

Simple, eh?