Wassail is a Wonderful Way to Celebrate Winter and the Holiday Spirit!

Did you know that a cup of warm wassail is very soothing to a sore throat? Yes. One time it was a Christmas holiday and I was under the weather. I had a sore throat and my daughter came over and made some wassail in a crock pot. I took one sip and it felt so good going down my throat. Who knew?

Sore throat or not, a drink of warm wassail is delicious, especially during the wintry months. There are so many recipe variations.

"Wassail is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval Christmastide English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year." (Source: Wikipedia)

The Christmas tree and other decorations are up and I am counting the days until December 25th. For this blog post, I simply must share a wonderful wassail recipe that a friend shared with me in response to a question I asked about celebrating the Winter Solstice. I know some people don't care too much for eggnog but most people really enjoy a delicious wassail drink.

Celebrate the Winter Solstice with this Wassail Recipe by Spiderdust:  Core out of some apples (not the whole way through), stuff them with sugar, put a bunch of cloves in an orange, and then roast all of the fruit for half an hour. Put the roasted fruit in a gallon of cider with some cinnamon sticks, allspice, some pieces of crystallized ginger, a few pieces of star anise, and then grate some nutmeg over it all. Optional: Throw in some fresh or frozen cranberries. Let it simmer on low all day long. People can serve themselves as they please. The longer it simmers, the better it gets.

“Here We Come A-wassailing (or Here We Come A-caroling) is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Year song, apparently composed c. 1850.  (Source)

More Wassail Recipes:

* Original acrylic elf painting, Wassail: Santa's elves at workbench, Woodworking tools, Alphabet letter W, Gift for Dad, Fantasy Christmas ~ Found on Etsy

Here are five interesting and fun facts about wassail:

🍎 1. It originally meant “be healthy.”

The word wassail comes from the Old English toast “waes hael,” meaning “be hale” or “be healthy.” It was both a greeting and a blessing.

🍻 2. There are two kinds of wassailing

Historically, “wassail” could mean:

• A drink — a warm, spiced beverage (often cider, ale, or wine).

• A ritual — going door-to-door singing and offering a bowl of wassail in exchange for gifts, similar to modern caroling.

🌳 3. People used it to “bless” apple trees

In traditional apple-tree wassailing, villagers sang, recited rhymes, and splashed cider on apple trees to encourage a good harvest. They also placed toast soaked in cider in the trees as an offering to the orchard spirits.

🎶 4. Many Christmas songs come from wassailing traditions

Songs like “Here We Come A-Wassailing” and “The Gloucestershire Wassail” are remnants of these old rituals and were originally sung while going door to door with a wassail bowl.

🍯 5. Historic recipes were delightfully weird

Classic wassail wasn’t just mulled cider—it often included:

• roasted apples

• eggs or custard

• spices

• ale and wine mixed together
  The result was a frothy, almost dessert-like punch.