Premium 10-Piece Mulled Wine Cocktail Gift Set - Spiced Wine Kit with Stainless Steel Tools for Holiday Entertaining, Christmas Gifts for Women & Wine Lovers - Perfect for Hostess, Birthday & Anniversary Presents

My partner and I recently had the pleasure of trying out the Cooking Gift Set Company’s new 10 Piece Mulled Wine Cocktail Kit. We were very intrigued because neither of us had ever tried mulled wine! In fact, with a busy household of children and pets, along with work schedules, volunteering and other obligations, we rarely get the chance to indulge ourselves with adult beverages. This was going to be a real treat, so we made sure to set aside time for us to relax and have fun after the kids were asleep. ;) We were enthusiastic to try our hand at mulling wine, and we weren’t disappointed! Disclosure: We already knew from our previous experience with Cooking Gift Set’s Chinese Soup Dumpling Kit that these sets are high quality with just about everything you need to get started right away.Let’s talk about the unboxing. It’s amazing how much can fit in a tidy, slim rectangular box. Everything is packed neatly and safely for shipping. The outside is tastefully decorated and would make a great gift with just a ribbon tied around it. The bottom of the box shows you everything contained inside with cute illustrations. The tools such as the mesh infuser bag, the zester/grater and the beautifully crafted mulling ladle are made to be used again and again. The Step by Step Instructions portfolio is made of durable cardstock that is easy to read and contains everything you need to know to get started, including how to care for tools, storage for the whole spices, a basic history of mulling wine, tips, FAQs and contact information. Best of all, the kit comes with four simple recipes to get you started. The photographs of the finished beverages conjure up images of a cozy fall evening, sitting on a porch swing or curled up on a couch with your favorite fluffy blanket and a good books. We couldn’t think of a better time of year to try this particular kit!We liked how the kit reminds you that you don’t need to buy fancy wine. In fact, cheaper is better in this case! It was hard to choose which recipes to try first. We decided on the Spiced Cider and the Festive Red. Since we only needed enough for the two of us we purchased one gallon of apple cider, one small bottle of spiced rum and one bottle of Merlot.The recipe cards contain all the ingredients you will need for each cocktail. The rest is pretty straightforward: customize your spice bag, heat and pour! That’s it! What we loved about this kit is that the possibilities are endless! You can add as little or as much of the included whole, dry spices or experiment and add your own fresh lemons, oranges or ginger. Grate the ingredients as finely as you want. At first we were confused about what exactly needed to be grated because we didn’t realize that the cards will tell you when you need to grate (or crush) a spice. In hindsight we think you really can’t go wrong either way! You can change the flavor intensity to your liking. The kit contains six different spices in very generous amounts. We only made two recipes to start, so we have plenty leftover for future “late night date nights!” One suggestion we have for future editions is perhaps to use resealable pouches so that the unused spices stay fresh. (We put ours together in a quart sized freezer bag for later use.)As for the taste, our favorite was definitely the Spiced Cider. This is the perfect drink for Halloween, Thanksgiving and maybe even Christmas by the tree or fireplace. This drink fills your kitchen with the aroma of holiday spirit. It also warms your belly! We would pair the cider with a crumb topped or powdered donut - or even pumpkin pie! We also realized that the spiced cider can be a mocktail simply by leaving out the rum!We also enjoyed the Festive Red, though this one was a bit strong for us in smell and flavor. It is possible we may have gotten a little distracted while taste testing the cider, and brought it to a boil first though. Oops! ;) The great thing about this kit is that each time you try a recipe you can tweak it to suit your preferences.Speaking of endless possibilities, we see a lot of opportunities for this kit to bring friends and family together. How about inviting a small group of friends over for a wine mulling party where several recipes are on the menu, complete with desserts, appetizers or your favorite charcuterie board ingredients? Or, why not add a classic board game or bingo to the party? Playing it safe by limiting in-person events? How about a Zoom party where each participant makes their own recipe while catching up on the latest news with their besties?We can honestly say that this was super fun and a great value. It would make an awesome gift for your favorite wine connoisseur or adventurous cook. Or, treat yourself, because YOU deserve it!I absolutely loved the mulled wine kit! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more... as it totally transported me back to Europe- sipping gluhwein through the Christmas markets. I tried the Festive Red recipe, and added one tablespoon of brown sugar and two cloves... amazing!!The new packaging was beautiful, from the graphic design, to the recipe cards, labels, and the perfectly packaged spices.I really appreciated that this company supplied ample spices, so that this can be used multiple times.The zester is incredible quality, which will replace the one I had in my drawer.This is a fun way to enjoy wine, especially in the upcoming holiday months and I can't wait to make a white wine version.Was invited to a "stock the bar" housewarming party and I wanted to bring something a little different. We brought three different bottles of wine and apple cider as recommended in the recipes included with the kit... it turned out to be a Big Hit! A bunch of people wanted to know where we got it It smelled amazing when opened and the recipes honestly looked very good! Definitely getting a couple more of these kits to keep on hand for the upcoming season for hostess gifts, teachers gifts (probably w/just cider... ha ha). It's definitely a one size fits all gift and much nicer than just showing up with a bottle of wine :))Bought this as a present for a friend of mine who loves wine and loves to cook. She made a spiced red wine with oranges, cinnamon, and dried apples. Very tasty. We tried it with a white wine and it was not good. Red wines are better when warmed up. She also made a wine that had dried fruit and used a spice satchel from the kit. It was very good the first night but we left it in the crockpot overnight ....the next day it was amazing.This is the BEST gift! I got it for my sister in law who loves wine. The packaging is so cute that I didn't have to wrap it - it looks like a gift. And the products inside are packaged so nicely that it looks really fancy. We made the mulled wine and it made the house smell incredible! It was also really fun to do together. I've bought the grill set from the same supplier and that was also an amazing gift (for my dad). I will always use this product for house warming and gifts for wine lovers - it's such a unique and cool gift. Love it!We got this as a gift for my father-in-law. He was really excited to use it. Their neighbors take turns hosting cocktail hour, and he was excited to use this for his next one. The package was nice and I liked that you could mix and match the ingredients to make your own spice blend.I bought this as a thank you gift for friends who hosted us at their home and it was the perfect gift! It comes in a really cute box that has a classy high-quality look, so it barely needed gift wrap which made it easy to give. My friends loved it and told me they had a lot of fun doing it. They are wine lovers but hadn't mulled wine before, so they totally appreciated that I gave them a new experience and said it smelled really good when they made it. Now I want to get one for myself!A great gift for the wine lover on your gift list. Nice packaging with swift delivery.