I have made coffee with half a cracked nutmeg (etc.)
Same with the cinnamon, cloves and allspice: they were all
whole, not ground.

Would it have been as effective to use a tenth the amount of
preground?

Nope. Not entirely. Just like mulled wine, the flavour is different
when prepared that way.

So you salvage the spices and reuse them.
Does the flavor change much between
boilings? It should be like foreshots and
feints, with the more volatile and soluble
things going first, so you get a progressively
darker spice taste. Of course, that isn't a
big deal if the flavor never becomes "bad" -
the old Chinese way to drink tea was to stuff
your pot full of leaves and add hot water,
using a longer steep each refill, savoring the
change of flavors.

Title: Aem's Glogg

Now there's a festive beverage. Freshman year, we
had an expository writing requirement, but if we
placed out of it, we were assigned to an advanced
writing seminar. Mine was a course in biography
taught by a paraplegic guy who got permission to
teach out of his apartment rather than commuting
to the campus. It was only a half mile hoof, not
bad for a bunch of 18-year-olds put taxing for a
wheelchair. He softened the blow by offering
snacks, including the last one before Christmas
a what turned out to be quite respectable glogg.
The university served in loco parentis, which
meant that we could drink if it said we could.

I made it a few times in subsequent years but
went on to a mull using random spices, and if
it turned out horrid, an orange and some brandy.

The teacher was quite well connected, and he got
tired easily, and a couple times he arranged
guest teachers; one was Willie Morris, and the
other wasn't (Ronnie Dugger perhaps, I forget).

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: MULLED WINE
Categories: Beverages, Cyberealm, Kooknet
Yield: 14 servings

3 Bottles red wine such as
Burgundy or zinfandel 750 ml
Each, or 10 1/2 cups
2/3 c Sugar
16 Inches cinnamon sticks
2 lg Nutmegs, whole, cracked
Into large pieces (hammer)
1 tb Whole star anise
1 ts Allspice, whole
1 ts Cloves, whole
8 Quarter-size slices fresh
Ginger
1 lg Granny Smith apple, cored,
Sliced thinly cross wise
1 md Orange, halved lengthwise
And thinly sliced crosswise
1 md Orange peel, peeled from an
Orange in a long spiral

In a 5 to 6 quart pan over med-low heat, stir wine, 2/3 cups sugar,
cinnamon, nutmegs, star anise, allspice, cloves, ginger, apple,
orange, and orange peel until steaming. (Do not boil). To blend
flavors, hold mulled wine at steaming, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Taste, and stir in more sugar, if desired. Ladle into mugs and serve,
or reduce heat to very low and keep warm up to 2 hours. (Sunset Dec.
1994).

MMMMM
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