Christmas markets in Munich: Looking for normal mulled wine – Munich

Last year, not only beer but also mulled wine was served at Oktoberfest. And this year there is a bit of an Oktoberfest feeling at the Christmas markets. Instead of the beer price brake, people are probably talking about the mulled wine brake with steaming cups in sticky hands. Prices vary significantly in Germany this year. On average, a mulled wine costs three to six euros. The cup is the most expensive in Munich.

But not only classic mulled wine is served at the Christmas markets, the sweetness of which makes your teeth squeak and which still throbs in the back of your head the day after, but also hot Hugo or Aperol, elderberry punch and fermented apricot juice.

On the Alte Utting

At the weekend things can get tight at the Alte Utting “Starfleet”. Here, on the border of Sendling and the Dreimühlenviertel, there is a magical and alternative place to chill out before Christmas. The predominantly young audience sits around fireplaces with drinks in their hands and listens to live performances by changing musicians, sometimes more, sometimes less original, in their repertoire. At least we were spared from “Last Christmas” on our previous visits and hope it stays that way. The bar serves, among other things, hot Aperol (seven euros) and hot Hugo (5.50 euros), but of course also normal organic mulled wine. Both the white and the red come from the Hauser wine wholesaler in Fischach in the Augsburg district, so they didn’t have to travel very far. In terms of taste, we were particularly impressed by the white version, which is a little less sweet than the red one. Otherwise, both have the typical Christmas tones of clove, cinnamon and citrus. Both cost a fair four euros plus a deposit of one euro. If you like a (highly recommended) shot of rum in your cup, you can get it for 1.50 euros.

Andreas Schubert

Orange apricot punch at Pink Christmas

The Christmas market on Stephansplatz in the Glockenbachviertel looks like you’re wearing rose-colored glasses because the lights bathe everything in this color. A lot of things are pink anyway. For example the Santa hats that are worn at the stands. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA sounds from the stage, which is also performed by Munich drag queens and is decorated with pink fairy lights. With so much pink, you’re almost a little surprised why the color scheme isn’t also found in mulled wine. It’s available in red and white, served in slim rainbow cups with the saying “Glow with me, little bear” and two cute teddy bear faces. Eggnog and cocoa with a shot are also available at a stand. In addition to these Christmas market classics, orange apricot punch is also served for six euros. This is fermented apricot juice with a gentle alcohol content of five percent. Your hands still stick because the punch is as sweet as mulled wine, whether red or white, but it doesn’t turn you blue so quickly.

Stefanie Witterauf

Normal mulled wine on the Tollwood

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It’s just a normal mulled wine. Without freshly grated ginger, without a candied orange slice and without other chichi – and at 4.20 euros per cup it is probably the cheapest on the entire Tollwood premises. A simple blue mug with a print, filled with steaming red organic mulled wine – the only kind available here. If you want something extra, you can get a shot of schnapps for one euro. Only two euros are required as a deposit. The name of the stand is also comparatively sober, it is called “Raclette-Alm” and is decorated with two Swiss flags. In addition to mulled wine, children’s punch and coffee, there is also melted raclette cheese on bread, steamed dumplings and yeast dumplings. A few bar tables, little decoration, but a look into the steamed dumpling factory through a large pane of glass is possible. And what can you say: the mulled wine tastes good. Just like mulled wine.

Kathrin Aldenhoff

Fruity elderberry punch

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There is a punch made from elderberries at “Hot Elixirs” at the Tollwood Festival. The drink sounds alcohol-free – but it’s not, and you can taste it. The punch is strong and fruity, but not too sweet, which is why you can taste the alcohol more than with other mulled wines. The typically bitter taste of elderberries is masked by the sweetness. The color of the elderberry punch is dark red, which you can see through the glass in which the steaming drink is served for 5.50 euros per 200 milliliters. The vessel also reveals that “Hot Elixirs” is a bar from the Floßlände on the Isar. The punch is hot but can be drunk immediately, making it a great way to warm up your hands.

Anne Eberhard

Sweet mulled wine at the “Rauschgoldbengel”

The mulled wine steams from thick-walled red cups at the “Rauschgoldbengel” on the Tollwood. These seem to be very popular – you have to pay a deposit of five euros on top of the 4.50 euros for a mulled wine. Both the white and the red mulled wine smell very spicy. The alcohol also mixes intensively with the scent. But when you take your first sip, one word in particular comes to mind: sweet. And the more sips you drink, the stronger this taste becomes. The contents of the cup are immediately at a pleasant drinking temperature, but the disadvantage is that the mulled wine gets cold faster.

Lina Krauss

Classic in the residence

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Simple mulled wine, red, with oranges, cloves, cinnamon, anise, maybe a sip of rum. No punch, no Jagertee, no white wine with juice, neither Glögg nor Grog and no Feuerzangenbowle – just normal mulled wine. It has to be found somewhere, here in the Christmas village in the Kaiserhof of the Residenz. But at the first stop there is only blueberry mulled wine (berries instead of oranges), the stand across the street serves mulled beer (with cherry juice), and further over the eggnog flows in streams. The circle around the village square is almost complete when, finally, there is a “shepherd’s drink” under the glass eyes of a stuffed boar, whose head is displayed above the bar: classic mulled wine, red, with or without shot, unobtrusive, spicy, not too sweet. It was worth the search.

Ulrike Steinbacher

Red “Alpenglüher” at the Viktualienmarkt

The first sip of the red “Alpenglüher” is a surprise: it tastes strong, dry and only a little sweet. The typical mulled wine spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and vanilla are not obvious, but are pleasantly present. 6.50 for 0.2 liters, that’s in the upper price range, but it’s okay. The drink neither sticks to your fingers when it spills over the cup nor to your tongue. The “Alpenglüher” is made fresh several times a day with annual wine from the Veneto and homemade spice syrup, as we learn from the man in the hat in the rustically decorated stand at the southern end of the Viktualienmarkt. “Precision work, made by Munich people for Munich people,” he says. Things are pretty cheerful behind the counter here, which also creates a good atmosphere in front of it. It is served daily from afternoon to 11 p.m. and on Sundays until 10 p.m. The red “Alpenglüher” is a Merlot, the white one is a Chardonnay. To maintain quality, they are only heated to a maximum of 72.5 degrees.

Sabine Buchwald

In the “Talstation” on Maximilianstrasse

There is no pushing or pushing here. So you can easily bring your filled cup from the bar to the wooden bar table without spilling it. It’s also just a few steps past discarded ski gondolas where you can eat raclette. The temporary mulled wine bar at the Hotel Vierseasonen, called “Talstation”, is rather intimate, but that doesn’t mean that only hotel guests are welcome here. You don’t need a Dior or Chanel bag in the crook of your arm either, but you can voyeuristically and enjoyably observe the Maximilian Street audience. It’s worth just enjoying the mulled wine for 6.50 euros. It’s homemade, so it comes from the Schwarzreiter kitchen, and tastes really good: spicy, fresh and not overly sugary, the white one is almost more delicate than the red one. But that’s a matter of taste.

Sabine Buchwald