Wassail

Beverages and Libations

Method: Stovetop or Crock Pot

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Wassail: Drink to health and a prosperous 2021

Here we come a-Wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering,
So fairly to be seen.
Here we come a wandering
So fairly to be seen.
Love and joy come to you
And to you a Wassail too
God bless you and send you,
A Happy New Year
God send you a Happy New Year.

“Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green….” What is wassail? That is the question we get when we serve up a cup of this delicious and warm cup of cheer to family and friends in the Winter. To put it simply, it is a type of warm, mulled cider. Traditionally it played a major part in English Twelfth Night celebrations. These celebrations involved blessing the fields, remembering the twelve apostles, and a lot of singing and drinking.

When you look up the word wassail in the dictionary it gives several definitions. As a noun it is described as, “1: An early English toast to someone’s health. 2: A hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmas time. 3: riotous drinking : REVELRY. As a verb, wassailing is to 1: Indulge in wassail : CAROUSE 2: To sing carols from house to house at Christmas. 3: To drink to the health.”

We like this word and the drink and everything it means. When you mix all the fall and wintry flavors together, warm them for an hour or more and your home starts to smell like apples and spices, it makes your heart (and belly) warm and you might just start wandering the neighborhood singing carols…especially if you add some wine to your warm cup of cheer!

Making the Wassail

The wassail is fairly simple to make by mixing all the ingredients in a crock pot or dutch oven on the stove.

Pour the cranberry juice, unsweet tea, apple cider, orange juice, and fresh squeezed lemon juice into a crockpot. Add the sugar, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves and stir it until the sugar is dissolved. Turn the crockpot to low for at least 30 minutes, or better yet, a couple of hours and then enjoy the smells and tastes once it has warmed through.

If you would like, add equal amounts of wassail and red wine to your cup for a little more warmth. You can keep the crockpot on low or keep warm for the rest of the day. Refrigerate the leftovers and warm up individual servings (or even drink it cold as our son likes it).

Here is to hoping your Holiday season is full of cheer (and maybe a little revelry)! Please don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Merry Christmas and have a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Looking for more holiday drink ideas, give our Fall Bourbon Blitz or Cran-Merry Vodka Martini a try. This drink is also perfect alongside holiday staples like Ham, Prime Rib, and or course stuffing.