Glugg

Another holiday tradition in my family is glugg. My grandfather apparently made it every year and it was always quite the hit (I was not fortunate enough to try his original concoctions).

Together with my mom, I whipped up a batch (vat) while I was home this past week.

It is really quite simple and quite delicious/intoxicating. When it is first put together it tastes like a slightly sweeter manhattan, but if you let it sit for a day it loses a lot of its edge once the spices get "all up in it."

I'm also not quite sure what the reflective film is on the second picture, but I'm sure it is either adding to the deliciousness or alcohol content of the drink.

Glugg (yields enough to get lots of people drunk)
1 bottle rye whiskey (we used seagrams 7)
1 bottle port (can't remember what we used)
1 bottle sweet vermouth
handful of almonds
1/4 cup dark raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
10-12 cardamom seeds
6-10 cloves (i think that's right)
4-5 cinnamon sticks

bring it all to a slight simmer. add in simple syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water heated up) to taste. done.

If you want to put on a show and burn off some of the alcohol, you can light the whole thing with a match (just don't blow yourself up if you're using a gas stove). This will reduce the drunk yield so I don't think I'd recommend it.