Mulled wine for 200 - anyone with catering experience?!

[NigelHarmansNewWife]

We've got an event coming up where a glass of mulled wine needs to be served to every ticket holder. We plan to heat the wine up in advance and put it in insulated flasks. Thinking about logistics on the night and the available space. We need at least two stations serving the wine to deal with the volume. Some people won't want wine so we can offer teas and coffees (boiling water in another insulated jug or jugs) or a soft drink for children.

If you attended this kind of event would you expect to be given the wine on arrival or in the interval? If you have some on arrival, would you buy another in the interval? If we do additional servings we'll have to buy more wine to ensure we can serve everyone.

I just would like it to be fairly slick service and for the interval not to go on too long. We have a team of people helping.

I love mulled wine and would want it on arrival and the interval. I

That aside, having a free drink should be on arrival is always nice.

Thank you. That was my gut feeling. Actually serving on arrival could cut down the bunfight in the interval. Anything served in the interval is then charged for. We've always served drinks in the interval before and charged for them. This time the ticket price is higher but includes wine and a mince pie.

You want a free drink on arrival because then people may choose to buy in the interval whereas if you supply at the interval no one will buy anything.

I think serve the free one on arrival and then charge for interval drinks.

If at all possible I’d caution against insulated flasks unless they’re ones with a dispenser as they’ll be time consuming to serve from. If you’ve got an electric point mulled wine works well in slow cookers, serving with a ladle. Have two slow cookers on the go, and the rest of the mulled wine in the flasks to pour in.

For the interval if you’re worried about time go for things which don’t need to be poured - coke cans, mini wine bottles, beer bottles as that’ll speed up serving.

@NC10125 - question for you, how is ladling into cups quicker than serving from insulated flasks? We've some large ones with push button and some you lift and pour from.

When you’re serving large numbers, something only has to take slightly longer for it to massively increase the queue.

The flasks you push the top will also be quick so you can test it yourself- fill both with boiling water and the accurately without spilling pour eg 10 cups from each .

If you’re not keen on the slow cooker suggestion you could do the same thing with the flasks and decant from the pour ones to the push top ones for serving.

On arrival is better and easier logistically. Everyone funnels passed you once after the ticket check.

Not everyone may get up from their seat at the interval if it's a performance (you asked "If you attended this kind of event" without saying what kind of event it is).

Mulled wine, tea, coffee, and soft drinks for children. So anyone that has to drive to the event is going to be SOOL if they wanted a non-alcoholic festive option?

@DogInATent what does SOOL mean?

And what festive non alcoholic option would you suggest?

I don’t know what SOOL is but I’d suggest mulled spiced apple juice for the non drinkers…

I also think service on arrival- will thin out the queue a bit too.

Shit out of luck. I think slow cookers would be easier than a flask.

I run this sort of event annually. You want a hot plate and pan (or slow cooker) with a ladle. Partly because it'll look nicer than a load of thermos's. With the pan you can see the wine steaming, orange slices floating on top it's more atmospheric, will probs encourage people to buy more. Thermos's feel a bit cheaper?

Mulled spiced apple juice is a good shout for those not drinking!

Careful with the steaming or the alcohol will evaporate. You could use slow cookers to prevent that. Do you need a temporary licence if you’re serving mulled wine?

@HoppityBun Yep, if you're selling it. If you're giving it away as part of a ticket price and/or just asking for donations then no.

Insulated flasks are fine for buffet type situations where people serve themselves but are awful when serving a queue of people.

I serve tea and coffee as a volunteer at a weekly event and sometimes the hot water urns aren't available and I get given the flasks to use. It's a nightmare as it takes longer to pump the water out my hands and wrists are aching by the end of the session.

I've served mulled wine out of large catering saucepans on a burner using a ladle - quick but messy.

I’ve seen gallons of hot soup* at a winter event - kept hot in slow cookers. Worked very well - if you can borrow enough of them! Pretty sure I’ve seen mulled wine ditto, too.

*some of it made by me and transported 60 miles in 4 or 6 pint plastic milk bottles - very well washed, of course, before anyone has a pink fit.

The slow cooker/ladle thing looks nicer, but it can be hard to pour it neatly from a ladle to a cup. Then you get sticky mulled wine drips, and it's all messy.
The flasks where you push the top are actually quite slow to dispense.

How many slow cookers can you rustle up between you? I think I'd go for those, but use a decent size jug to scoop and pour, rather than a ladle. That will be a lot quicker (you'll need more than one ladle per cup, and by the time you've scooped, steadied and poured x2 that's a relatively long serve time per person).
You could top the slow cookers up with big flasks.

And definitely some kind of non-alcoholic variant for the non drinkers. Tea/coffee is a faff, and also boring in comparison.

I’ve also used slow cookers, handy to plug in, and it looks much nicer too

When you're running a family event evaporating off most of the alcohol in the preparation is not necessarily a bad thing. Slowcooker mulled wine always catches people out the first time, because they don't expect the strength if they're used to making it on the stove top.

And yes, you do need a personal or temporary licence if you're selling alcohol. That includes events where a glass of mulled wine is included in the ticket price.

I've served it at fireworks event & we put it into large hot water urns.

@PineappleCoconut you must have very clean urns! Every urn I've seen has a nice layer of limescale on the bottom (lower than the level of the tap). I wouldn't drink mulled wine out of the ones in our church hall, village hall or at work!

I agree with other posters, thermos flasks will not look attractive. I also agree that the wine should be served on arrival and there should be a non alcoholic version. Tea and coffee is a bit of a let down for non drinkers.

Agreed. I serve it to hundreds at an annual event and urns are the only way to heat and serve it quick enough. Any yes, my urns are sparkling clean with no limescale thanks!

I find people don’t care what it looks like as long as it tastes good but if you’re that bothered you could keep the urns behind the scenes, pour there and bring it out on trays.

Will people have time to drink mulled wine in the interval?

Spiced warm apple juice is a good alcohol free alternative to tea and coffee.