Christmas mulled wine

Method

1. In a large pan, slowly warm the wine, cloves, cinnamon sticks, ginger and orange.
2. As the mixture heats up, add the caster sugar and  brandy, stir, then taste.
   Add more sugar and/or more brandy, if you like.
3. Continue to heat until warmed through, but don’t let the mixture boil or the mull will spoil. Ladle (avoiding the whole spices) into heatproof glass tumblers, then hand around while the wine is steaming hot. Make a fresh batch if you need more, rather than reheating any leftovers over 20 minutes old, as the flavours will taste stewed and overly spiced.