Instructions mixed spice for mulled wine and Christmas cookies

• You can customize this mixture according to your personal taste. In my family we prefer the use small amount of pepper but instead we use a lot of cinnamon.
• Open cardamom pods. Discard the green shells and use only the seeds inside the berry.
• Place cardamom seeds, juniper berries (optional), one anise star, cloves and cinnamon sticks in a pan. Toast everything for a couple of minutes over low heat until the spices begin to release an intense aroma.
• Place everything in a mortar and grind. At this point you have two ways to proceed. The first one is to grind all the spices using a mortar. The second one that is simpler, is to use a coffee grinder that can pulverize everything in a few bzzzz.
• Add ginger powder, fresh ground pepper and grated nutmeg to the mixture and stir.
• Store in a airtight container and use to your liking.