Name: Home Kitchen From-scratch Mulling Spice Sachets
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 8 sachets
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 8 cinnamon sticks; 1½ tablespoons whole cardamom pods; 1/4 cup whole cloves; 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger; 1 tablespoon dried orange peel; 2 teaspoons dried lemon peel; cheesecloth; kitchen string

What is Mulling Spice?

Mulling spices is a spice blend used in beverages. The combination of spices varies but usually consist of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Sometimes cardamom, black pepper and star anise are used as well. It’s these particular spices that make the beverage “mulled”. Common fall and winter beverages that use these spices are mulled cider, mulled wine, wassail and hippocras. (thank you wikipedia)

To Make From-scratch Mulling Spice Sachets Set out:

cinnamon sticks
cloves (whole)
crystalized ginger
orange peel (dried)
lemon peel (dried)
cardamom pods (whole)
cheesecloth
kitchen string

There’s no right or wrong brand. I will first say, buy what you can afford. However, not all spices are created equal as you tend to get what you pay for. Currently I use Morton & Bassett (not sponsored) because I find their spices to be top notch in texture, color and flavor. Worth keeping and respect what their company stands for not only with charitable work but also quality control. With that said some other pleasing brands I’ve used over the years are Simple Organic, Frontier Co-op and Penzys.

Did you know you can easily make your own dried citrus peels? YOU CAN! There’s two ways to do it. The first, is to use a vegetable peeler, I like using a julienne peeler to peel off the rind (avoid the pith because it’s bitter) and place on paper towel and allow it to dry over a couple of days.

The second is by using your microwave. I know there’s some hardcore anti-microwave peeps out there and believe me, I avoid it if I can. However, I didn’t have time to let them dry out on their own for a few days. SO for as HOW you make dried citrus peel in the microwave you need to follow the same instructions as written above (peel and avoid the pith) then microwave between sheets of paper towel at 50% power for 2 to 5 minutes, carefully flipping every minute or so.

Next place 1-1/2 tablespoons cardamom pods into a resealable baggie.

Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin to bust them up a bit.

Do the same with 8 cinnamon sticks.

In a bowl, add the crushed cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, 1/4 cup whole cloves, 2 tablespoons crystalized ginger, 1 tablespoon minced dried orange peel, 2 teaspoon minced dried lemon peel.

Toss to combine.

Cut the cheese cloth into 8 strips about 4×6 inches.

A fun fact about using sachets:

Did you know that if you were to add these spices in loosely, they would cloud your cider. Using the sachets will keep you apple cider clear.

Place a couple spoonfuls of the kitchen-made mulling spices and bring the shorter sides together.

Grab the longer two sides and pull and twist them together.

Tie a few times with a piece of kitchen string and repeat with the remaining sachets.

You should end up with 8 sachets.

I store them in a large jar in my pantry. However they would make for an excellent hostess gift! A bottle of wine or gallon of apple cider with how-to directions on a cute recipe card (!!!)… simply a thought.