Mulsum — Spiced Honeyed Welcome Wine
Sweet wine infused with honey, pepper, cinnamon, and a hint of saffron, served warm or chilled at the start of the meal. Comforting, fragrant, slightly spicy.
Sweet wine infused with honey, pepper, cinnamon, and a hint of saffron, served warm or chilled at the start of the meal. Comforting, fragrant, slightly spicy.
Before anything touches your lips at my table, you are handed mulsum: that is my law of hospitality. We beat honey into a generous wine, toss in pepper and cinnamon, sometimes a thread of saffron for the color of kings. And do not believe the rumor that calls me a drinker: I know how to raise my cup with my generals when needed, and remain marble when reason demands. Drink, and let peace be between us.
- •Sweet wine — an amphora for the table (base)
- •Honey — generously (sweetness)
- •Pepper — a few crushed grains (spicy heat)
- •Cinnamon / nard — one stick (flavor)
- •Saffron — a few threads (royal color)
Mulsum — Spiced Honeyed Welcome Wine
Sweet wine infused with honey, pepper, cinnamon, and a hint of saffron, served warm or chilled at the start of the meal. Comforting, fragrant, slightly spicy.
Why this dish? Mulsum opens every Roman cena: it is the wine of hospitality. At Palmyra, where the finest vintages are imported, Zenobia offers it to her guests. The Vita Aureliani notes that she knew, on occasion, to drink with her generals like a man — proof that she mastered the art of the banquet as well as that of war.
Before anything touches your lips at my table, you are handed mulsum: that is my law of hospitality. We beat honey into a generous wine, toss in pepper and cinnamon, sometimes a thread of saffron for the color of kings. And do not believe the rumor that calls me a drinker: I know how to raise my cup with my generals when needed, and remain marble when reason demands. Drink, and let peace be between us.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sweet wine — an amphora for the table (base)
- Honey — generously (sweetness)
- Pepper — a few crushed grains (spicy heat)
- Cinnamon / nard — one stick (flavor)
- Saffron — a few threads (royal color)
Ingredients
- Smooth red or white wine — 75 cl (base)
- Honey — 4 to 5 tbsp (sweetness)
- Black peppercorns — 5, crushed (spicy heat)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (flavor)
- Saffron threads — 1 pinch (color and aroma)
- Non-alcoholic version: grape juice — 75 cl (alternative base)
Method
- Gently warm the wine (do not boil) with the cinnamon, crushed pepper, and saffron.
- Off the heat, dissolve the honey by stirring until fully incorporated.
- Let infuse, covered, for 15–20 minutes to develop the aromas.
- Strain. Serve warm in winter, or chilled in summer (Romans sometimes cut it with snow).
- For family and school audiences, make the same recipe with grape juice.
How it was made : Mulsum (wine + honey) was the quintessential aperitif, served during gustatio. Apicius and Columella give its proportions; it was spiced according to means. The elite chilled it with snow stored in insulated pits.
The contemporary twist : Serve the grape-juice version warm and spiced as an 'ancient non-alcoholic mulled wine' — perfect for letting children taste antiquity.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria (conditum paradoxum, mulsum) · Columella, De re rustica (preparation of mulsum) · Historia Augusta, Vita Aureliani (Zenobia's banquet habits)
Zenobia · Charactorium
