Hüttentee, hut tea, is exactly the sort of thing a person wants after a morning in the snow: hot black tea, spiced and sweetened, with a generous measure of rum. Austrian huts and ski resorts pour it by the ladle, and it has become as much a part of a winter afternoon in the Alps as wet gloves drying by the stove. Many hut versions add a shot of Obstler, the clear fruit brandy distilled from apples and pears, and some stretch the tea with red wine.

Its ready made Austrian cousin goes by a name that is protected in the European Union, so the homemade glass answers to hut tea, the way it does on German shelves. At home you are simply making a pot of spiced tea and choosing your bottles, and the result is wonderfully forgiving. Austria's own rum style, called Inländer rum, is dark, sweet and strongly flavored; any dark spiced rum makes a fine stand in.

It is a winter drink by birth, yet the Austrian race is held in summer in the mountains of Styria, where evenings can turn surprisingly cool. Pour it into heatproof glasses, wrap your hands around one, and toast whoever has just taken pole.

The spiced tea

Ingredients

• 3 cups (720 ml) water
• 4 black tea bags
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 2 wide strips orange peel
• 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar

Method

1. Put the water, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise (if using) and orange peel in the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer gently for 5 minutes so the spices can flavor the water.
2. Take the pan off the heat and add the tea bags or loose tea. Put the lid on and leave it to steep for 4 minutes, no longer, or the tea will turn bitter. Meanwhile fill the glasses with hot water from the kettle to warm them.
3. Lift out the tea bags, or pour the tea through the sieve into the jug if you used loose tea, catching the spices as well. Stir in the sugar until it has completely dissolved. Taste: it should be pleasantly sweet, because the spirits will dry it out a little.

Spiking and serving

Ingredients

• 4 fl oz (120 ml) dark rum
• 2 fl oz (60 ml) clear fruit brandy
• 4 thin slices orange

Method

1. Pour the hot water out of the glasses and dry them quickly. Measure 1 fl oz (30 ml) of rum and 1/2 fl oz (15 ml) of fruit brandy into each glass.
2. If the tea has cooled below steaming, warm it over low heat for a minute without letting it boil. Pour it into the glasses over the spirits, filling each about three quarters full, and stir once.
3. Float a thin orange slice on each glass if you like, and serve at once while it is still hot. Warn your guests that the glass will be hot to hold.

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