It’s winter and there’s no better way to warm up than to enjoy a steaming glass of Gluhwein in front of a roaring log fire at Granny Mouse.

As you enjoy your steaming glass of Gluhwein, you might begin to wonder about the origins of drinking hot, spiced wine and how this quaint tradition ended up in the chilly Midlands in the first place.

It was probably first introduced by German missionaries and entrepreneurs who arrived in what was then Natal during the 1800s. As you make your way around the Midlands Meander and through neighbouring towns, you’ll suddenly realise just how many of them, as well as restaurants and other attractions, are named after or influenced by German culture.

Gluhwein is an important part of Christmas celebrations during snowy winters in European countries.

It also has many different names and you may have heard it being called everything from Mulled Wine to Glög or perhaps just simple spiced wine. Essentially, Gluhwein is red wine to which sugar and spices and flavours such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise, vanilla and oranges have been added.

Then, this pungent concoction is heated almost to boiling point before being served up as that perfect winter companion. Sometimes, it is enjoyed along with a hefty shot of something like rum.

Interestingly enough, though, it seems that the Europeans might not have actually invented Gluhwein. Some say it stems from a spiced and heated wine dating all the way back to Rome during the second century AD. As the Romans plundered their way across Europe, they took their sizzling hot and spicy tipple along with them.

The oldest documented appearance of Glühwein in Europe dates back to 1420. Apparently, historians discovered a special gold plated tankard that belonged to a German nobleman who used it only for sipping this sweet and spicy liquid.

These days, there’s many variations with the sizzling spicy drink often changing quite a lot from region to region across Scandinavia, Turkey, Italy, France and the Netherlands. We’re told that the Dutch prefer lemons to oranges. Whilst, in Moldova, they add black pepper and honey. The Canadians even add maple syrup to their warmed wine!

In the Nordic countries, there’s glögg, and mulled wine has long been popular amongst the Brits and Scots.

Whatever the origins, we’ve got our own brand of Granny Mouse Glühwein that warms the cockles of our guests’ hearts on wintery evenings and prepares them for a warm night snuggled beneath feather duvets in warm beds.

Here’s the recipe:

Granny Mouse’s Spicy Gluhwein

Ingredients

1 Bottle Red wine

2 Oranges cut in half

250g Sugar

1tbsp Star Anise

3 Sticks of Cinnamon

30ml Black Sambuca

1tbsp Dried Cloves

250ml Orange Juice

Method

Pour the wine and sugar into a medium pot and bring to a boil before reducing the heat to a gentle simmer. Squeeze the oranges and add to the pot together with all the other ingredients.

Allow this to simmer gently until it has reduced by half.

Remove the star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves before pouring into glasses and serving warm.

Mid-year reviews and ongoing planning is an important tool to help creative teams refine processes, track progress towards strategic goals and objectives and review resource allocation for the rest of the year.

That’s why it’s great for progressive companies and teams to get together and plan the way forward for the second half of the year. That way, they can see if they are still on the right path, if anything has changed and a few tweaks are needed or if new opportunities have arrived that can help them achieve an even better second half of the year.

Many successful conferences have taken place at Granny Mouse and we have some excellent tips to share and assist when it comes to your next mid-term planning get together.

The main objective is for teams to look at strategic ideas and review them – and then check to see if they are meeting objectives and targets set at the beginning of the year.

Questions to ask the team and team leaders – What projects worked out well so far and why? What lessons were learnt and what accomplishments can you celebrate? Where could you make any improvements?

It is always good to start with the bigger goals that you set at the beginning of the year. Are they still as relevant now as they were then? A lot has happened since then – we’ve come through an election, a few bumps during the first quarter and all those operational increases. Does the big picture that you painted six months ago still apply or has the market changed enough for you to create a new outlook and strategy?

You need to ask your team if they are still able to keep up with the goals that were initially set or even ahead of them. If needed, revise or even set new targets.

Finally, should each project that you discussed at the beginning of the year require reports, include these at your half-way strategic session. It is always good to go over and review them in order to see if anything needs to be updated.

Remember, a half-way strategic conference always assists with providing insights into current processes for greater efficiencies and allowing team players to be more strategic contributors within their organisations.

Most importantly, when planning your next mid-financial year strategic session, why not look to the Mouse House to host you?