German Witches' Brew: Buttergrog (Contains Alcohol)

Es ist fast Winter! Und für euch, ich habe ein leckeres Wintergetränk: Buttergrog!

The nights are getting darker, the outside world is getting colder and more stark, and inside we're all starting to stock up on our heating fuel and warming, comforting food. In Ireland, winter starts on November 1st, which is a month before the rest of the western world, which marks December 1st as the first day of winter.

The four main Celtic festivals in the year mark the start of a new season. Samhain, the first day of winter, is celebrated on November 1st, which is the day after Oíche Shamhna, which means "Samhain Eve". Oíche Shamhna is our native name for Halloween.

Of course, we don't have the monopoly on wintertime celebrations! In fact, the homeland of our Celtic ancestors is central Europe, who absolutely go to town on autumnal and winter feasting. Germany, Austria, Poland, and many other countries throughout the European heartland have absolutely wonderful arrays of warming food and drinks.

All throughout Germany, Austria, and Poland there are a variety of warm, spiced alcoholic drinks. There's glühwein, which we know in English was mulled wine; there's the strange concoction grzaniec, which is hot spiced beer (which I really want to try so watch this space); and of course this blog's subject, the German delight buttergrog.

The word "grog" conjures an altogether, and much less classy, image of booze swilling pirates, but this drink is a delicious hot cider, flavoured with spices and aromatic citrus, spiked with rum, and finished off with a smooth hit of rich, buttery goodness. This is comfort in a glass.

For anyone who has made mulled wine in the past, you might be put off by the fiddliness of finding raw spices such as cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and star anise. However, I have a cheat:

Most Polish shops, and various healthfood shops, in Ireland sell spiced teabags. They often have a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and sometimes orange zest, and are the perfect short-cut to a delicious aromatic spice blend for mulled drinks.

The brand I use is Loyd, but there is also Pukka. Both of these brands sell a variety of spiced teabags, but the one I used for this recipe was Loyd Warming Tea.

DIFFICULTY

Easy!

INGREDIMENTS

For 2 servings

1 can (500 millilitres) dry cider, about 5%

2 shots (60 millilitres) rum: white or spiced. You could also use some homemade spice infused rum

4 teaspoons (20 grammes) unsalted butter, cold

1 spiced teabag

2 slices of lemon or orange

1 or 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 grammes) brown sugar or honey, to taste

HOW-TO

• In a small saucepan, heat the cider with the lemon or orange slices and the teabag. Don't let it boil, but let it get steaming hot. Let the teabag infuse with the cider for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir in the rum, and then add sugar or honey to taste. Allow to come back to temperature. I used some homemade spiced rum, infused with cinnamon, vanilla, and cloves. You could also use shop bought spiced rum.
• Put two teaspoons (10 grammes) of the butter in the bottom of each beer mug.
• Pour half the drink into each mug, stirring constantly to properly incorporate the butter and let it emulsify. 
• Serve hot with sweet or savoury snacks