Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 cups burgandy wine

2 cups port wine (note on the wine; you're heating it, spicing the crap out of it and fortifying it. Don't waste your money on good stuff. I frequently use Carlo Rossi for the burgandy and Fairbanks for the port because you can by them in bulk for dirt cheap)

1 cup aquavit (to taste, I often use closer to 2 cups by the time I'm satisfied... Maybe three. Maybe I have a problem...)

10-15 cardamom seeds

1 cup of raisins

10-15 whole cloves

A piece of ginger root

1 large orange

1 container of cinnamon sticks (I think it's about .75oz)

1/2 cup raw sugar

Ground white pepper

Process: Put the raisins in a container and cover them completely with the aquavit. Let them soak for an hour or two.

When they're ready, put the water in a large pot on low heat. Never let your heat get much hotter than you would be willing to drink. Don't want to cook the alcohol off, after all! Put all the spices in, making sure to break the cinnamon sticks in half and crushing the cardamom seeds so that the pods are open. Get a cheap orange zester from the dollar store and add the zest of the orange to it all (This works best for later, better than doing it in chunks, but it's a pain in the ass. I cheat sometimes). Take a two or three inch chunk of the ginger root, peel it and cut it into strips and add it in. Finally, add the sugar and dissolve it in. Let all of this steep for a while.

Now add the wine. Let the temperature get back up to where the water was, not much hotter than drinking temp. Once you're there, add the raisins and aquavit. Now add the white pepper. Careful here... It's sort of the secret ingredient in my recipe, but it's really easy to over do it. I usually sprinkle on a little at a time, stirring it in and tasting it until I get it right. Don't ask me why I added it to the recipe, it was random inspiration and it rocked. Let all of this steep together in the pot for a while... You want to let the spices get all up in there. Taste it, tweak it, make it yours.

Once you deem it ready, strain the liquid off into a big bowl or pitcher or whatever is handy.

Now, and this is important for both taste and presentation, get your bottles out. Throw a little bit of each solid spice into the bottles; half a handful of the raisins, one or two strips of ginger, a few strips of the orange zest, a couple of cloves and a couple of the cardamom seeds... It looks good, and it allows the spices to keep steeping until it's served. After that, just bottle it and you're done.

Make as much at once as you like: this stuff will keep in the bottle just fine. Last years final batch got made in January and finished off in May, just as good as the day it was made.

This recipe will give you 2-2 1/2 bottles. I roughly doubled it to get 4 bottles and a serving to drink on the spot.

My recipe is a lot higher in alcohol than most, but I kind of like it that way. I've been tweaking it for years. If you make any changes, let me know about them and how they change the taste! My recipe isn't the only one... It's just the best because it belongs to my family.