Orange

For all the warmth of winter drinks, they can grow heavy - sweet, spiced and rich after the second mug. Orange is the corrective. A little citrus brightness lifts a mull out of stodginess, adding fragrance and a clean, sweet-sharp edge that keeps the whole drink lively. It is the reason a pot of glühwein smells as good as it tastes.

Peel versus juice

The most prized part of an orange, for a drinks-maker, is the peel. The coloured outer zest is packed with aromatic oils, and a strip twisted over a warm glass releases a fine mist of fragrance that perfumes the drink before you have taken a sip. Avoid the white pith beneath, which is bitter. Juice plays a different role: stirred into a mull it adds body and a juicy, rounded sweetness, though too much can thin the texture, so a generous splash usually does more good than a full measure.

The clove-studded orange

There is a reason the clove-studded orange is a fixture of mulled wine. Pressing whole cloves into the skin of a halved or whole fruit, then floating it in the pot, lets the citrus oils and the warm spice infuse together slowly and gently. It looks the part, scents the room, and gives a steadier, more integrated flavour than tossing loose cloves into the liquid. Orange sits among the core flavour elements of Hot Apple Gin, a warm gin-based apple and spice serve, where its fragrant lift balances the deeper spice notes.

Getting the most from it

Choose unwaxed oranges where you can, especially if you are using the peel, and give the fruit a good wash. Pare your strips thinly with a peeler or a sharp knife, and add juice towards the end of warming rather than the start, so its fresh brightness is not cooked away. Kept gentle, orange does quietly what every good winter drink needs - it stops the richness from becoming too much.