Holiday Wassail

Wassail.

It's a popular hot drink during the holidays. If you look, you can find hundreds of different recipes to suit your fancy. Anything from non-alcoholic (like mine), to those made with wine and spirits, from easy, plain and simple, to more extravagant. (Click here for a history of wassail.)

I happen to love wassail--cold, warm, or piping hot. My love affair with it started when I was a child and my mom made a wassail mix from dry lemonade and Tang powder and spices to give to the neighbors. (I still like that version, too, as unconventional as it may be.)

For cooking club last week, I signed up to bring drinks. I wanted to come up with something that was spicy and perfect for Christmastime. I went back and forth and finally decided to throw a bunch of things together for quick, easy wassail. The main ingredient I wanted to include was one of my favorite flavors--fresh ginger.

I served it ice cold to my club members, but at home we also drank this hot over the next couple of days. It's good either way. And we also mixed it with lemon-lime soda. It got better the next day and the day after that.

After that introduction, all I really need to say is this: You can't mess up wassail. Not really. So adjust things to your own tastes--sweeter, spicier, tangier, etc.

Holiday Wassail
original recipe
Makes enough for a crowd--about 1.5 to 2 gallons

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2-3" fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices
2 cinnamon sticks
Zest from 5-6 lemons, cut into thick strips (yellow part only--use a vegetable peeler)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp each: clove, allspice, nutmeg

64 oz. bottled cranberry juice
Juice from 5-6 medium-sized lemons (about 1 cup)
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 can frozen apple juice concentrate
6-8 cups water

Instructions:

Bring the sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir and cook until sugar dissolves. Add the fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks, lemon zest, and spices. Remove from heat and let steep for several hours.

Strain the spiced syrup through a sieve into a punch bowl, large pot, or 2 gallon thermos.


Add the cranberry juice and frozen orange and apple juice concentrates to the simple syrup. (It will be very sweet and syrupy.) Add enough water to dilute according to desired strength. Taste and adjust the spices, or add more lemon juice if it's too sweet.

To serve:

For hot wassail--heat gently until very warm in a large pot and ladle into cups.

For cold wassail--add ice or chill several hours until cold.

For fizzy wassail--add club soda, sparkling water in place of the extra water. Or after still water has been added to dilute, mix with lemon-lime soda. (The spice won't be as strong, but it will still be good.) Print this post