Mulsum, honeyed libation wine
A fragrant wine sweetened with honey, spiced with a hint of pepper and aromatic leaves, served chilled. Sweetness of honey, subtle warmth of spice: the drink raised at the threshold of every feast.
A fragrant wine sweetened with honey, spiced with a hint of pepper and aromatic leaves, served chilled. Sweetness of honey, subtle warmth of spice: the drink raised at the threshold of every feast.
Before your cup touches your lips, pour me a few drops: I am the one by whom feasts and years alike open. Mix the honey into the wine until it melts, throw in a pinch of pepper from the East and a fragrant leaf, then let the brew rest. The first toast is for Janus — only then may the other gods, and finally men, drink.
- •Wine — one amphora (scale) (base)
- •Honey — a good measure (sweetness)
- •Pepper — a few grains (spice)
- •Bay leaves or nard — 1-2 (fragrance)
Mulsum, honeyed libation wine
A fragrant wine sweetened with honey, spiced with a hint of pepper and aromatic leaves, served chilled. Sweetness of honey, subtle warmth of spice: the drink raised at the threshold of every feast.
Why this dish? Every Roman ceremony opens with a libation, and Janus receives the first cup. Mulsum, wine sweetened with honey, was the inaugural drink served at the start of a banquet and poured on the altar for the god of beginnings.
Before your cup touches your lips, pour me a few drops: I am the one by whom feasts and years alike open. Mix the honey into the wine until it melts, throw in a pinch of pepper from the East and a fragrant leaf, then let the brew rest. The first toast is for Janus — only then may the other gods, and finally men, drink.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wine — one amphora (scale) (base)
- Honey — a good measure (sweetness)
- Pepper — a few grains (spice)
- Bay leaves or nard — 1-2 (fragrance)
Ingredients
- Red or medium-sweet white wine — 75 cl (base)
- Honey — 120 g (sweetness)
- Black peppercorns — 4-5 (spice)
- Bay leaf — 1 (fragrance)
Method
- Gently warm a glass of wine and dissolve the honey without boiling.
- Pour this syrup back into the remaining wine, add the peppercorns and bay leaf.
- Let infuse in a cool place for a few hours, then strain.
- Serve chilled, in small cups (non-alcoholic for children: replace wine with grape juice warmed with honey and the same aromatics).
How it was made : Mulsum (wine + honey) traditionally opened Roman banquets — known as the promulsis, the opening service. Apicius and Columella give proportions; imported pepper marked a refined version.
The contemporary twist : Non-alcoholic 'children's mulsum': grape juice, honey, a hint of pepper, and a bay leaf — serve at the twelve strokes of midnight on New Year's Eve.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria (conditum/mulsum) · Columella, De re rustica, book XII
Janus · Charactorium