Wassail: How To Make It + A Brief History

Wassail is a traditional European drink that dates back to the Middle Ages! It’s warming, spicy and delicious- the perfect thing for a chilly night. Drink in good health!

The rider sleepeth,
the hero, far-hidden; no harp resounds,
in the courts no wassail, as once was heard.

Beowulf

Here we come a-wassailing, among the leaves so green!

Have you ever wondered what on earth it means to wassail? How does one wassail??

If you’ve seen A Claymation Christmas, you know the answer to this (at least in part). But for those so unfortunate as to not have seen the clever and witty parody, I’ll briefly explain.

What Is Wassail?

‘Wassail’ is a word with a varied and ancient history. It’s believed to be a derivative of the old Norse greeting ves heil and the Old English was hail meaning, “be in good health”. The phrase would often be answered drink hail, “drink in health”, and later became synonymous with drinking. So much so that it became a traditional toast, and later a verb for drinking and strolling through orchards, toasting the apple trees in hopes of a good crop:

Let every man take off his hat
And shout out to th’old apple tree
Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear.

Old British folk song

This activity would eventually become a tradition of Twelfth Night (as in the 12 Days of Christmas), which as you probably know is the last night of Christmastide. And thus, wassail became a Christmas tradition.

So that’s the story behind the greeting, toast and verb of wassail. But what about the noun? What is wassail??

The drink used for wassailing, mulled cider, also became synonymous with the greeting, toast and verb.

I bet you had no idea what you were in for when you clicked on this recipe post.

There are myriad variations of wassail the drink, but suffice to say differing forms of mulled cider and/or wine, sometimes even beer, would be concocted and heated to steaming, oftentimes with whole apples cooked to bursting.

Fast-forward to the 20th century and housewives were adding pineapple juice to the ancient libation, and adding rum or leaving out alcohol altogether.

So that’s the centuries-old, tangled web of the history of wassail in a nutshell. A tiny, cramped nutshell.

If you’re interested, you can learn more here and here. I find it all fascinating.

What Is Wassail Good For?

• Parties. Because most recipes make very large batches for punch bowls or crock pots, wassail is an ideal party punch. And then there’s the fact that you can throw in a little rum or red wine 😉
• Family Christmas gathering. For all of the above listed reasons plus the fact that it requires such minimal prep.
• Caroling. Whether you take some with you in Thermos or meet back at the church to warm up, wassail goes hand-in-hand with caroling (just leave the rum out this time, for propriety’s sake, k?)
• Vitamin C. It’s not surprising that the earliest forms of wassail were drunk as a tonic. The ingredients used even today are packed with vitamin C, as well as other vitamins and minerals. No one’s getting scurvy this year.
• New Year’s Eve. Because wassail has been traditionally linked to bringing good fortune to the season ahead, it’s the perfect way to ring in the new year.
• A new Christmas tradition. When I was a kid, my church had some Christmas event, possibly caroling but I actually don’t remember now, at which they served wassail. For whatever reason, the fact that there would be wassail was really played up. I had no idea what it was at the time (you can’t say that now, can you??) but upon trying it I was fully on board the wassail train. Funnily though, I don’t think I had it in all these years since. This year I decided enough was enough and made it myself. I can already feel that it will be a much looked-forward to tradition in years to come as my whole family loved the experience.

What You’ll Need

• apple cider
• pineapple juice
• cranberry juice
• orange juice
• sliced oranges
• whole cloves, allspice and cinnamon sticks
• cranberries or pomegranate arils to garnish (optional)
• A copy of A Claymation Christmas on DVD (just kidding)

Do I need a crock pot?

No. A crock pot makes it so easy to throw together and keep warm, but there’s also an easy way to make it on the stove top. The choice is yours.

Can I sub any of the juices?

Yes. I have a couple of extended family members that are allergic to pineapple so I would just sub orange juice in that case. If you don’t have all the different kinds of juice or don’t want to use one for whatever reason, just use the same amount of one of the other juices; whichever you think will work best in its place.

What about the spices?

The same goes. I couldn’t get my hands on any whole star anise at my preferred location for bulk spices and I’ve only ever seen it elsewhere for over $10 for a little jar. So I forewent that particular addition and I would recommend you do the same in such cases. There are several different spices that have been traditionally used. Just choose the ones that you can get in whole form so they can be removed.

Grab The Recipe

I hope I’m not the only one who finds this all very interesting. Who knew this silly-sounding drink had such a rich history? I feel like I could write a whole unit study around the topic for our homeschool. My kids would never want to touch the stuff again XD

Fortunately for us all I won’t do that, but I hope I’ve given you some food for thought and convinced you to add this to your holiday menu. It’s so easy and will add something special to the kitchen counter. Plus you’ll have some interesting trivia to share with your captive audience 😉

Grab the printable recipe below. May God bless you and yours as you celebrate this beautiful season and look forward to the next.

-Tara

Check out more cozy drinks here.