The Best Hot Homemade Wassail Recipe (2024)

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ByAnn Drake

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Fill your home with the scent of Christmas by making this homemade wassail recipe for family and friends in your slow cooker. Easy and delicious!

The Best Hot Homemade Wassail Recipe (1)

Here we come a-Wassailing
among the leaves so green.
Here we come a-wand’ring
so fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
and to you a Wassail too,
And God bless you and send
you a Happy New Year,
God send you a Happy New Year.

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What Is Wassail?

We’ve all heard this familiar Christmas carol, but have you ever wondered what exactly is a wassail or wassailing? It turns out that they are two very different things. A traditional wassail recipe is an apple cider based drink that is made spicy with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Even more flavor is added by including fresh fruit. This traditional holiday drink tastes very much like hot mulled cider.

The Best Hot Homemade Wassail Recipe (3)

What Is Wassailing?

Wassailing is actually the centuries old, British custom of wandering around apple orchards singing to the trees, hoping all the while that the next harvest will be abundant, and that everyone will enjoy good health. This ritual eventually evolved into groups of people going from one home to the next, singing Christmas carols. Wassailing ceremonies typically take place on Twelfth Night (January 5th or 6th) depending on the tradition. Somewhere along the way, these small groups of people began carrying a bowl filled with wassail (the drink) to share with their neighbors.Traditionally, a wassail bowl was made from wood, and had a pedestal bottom.

Wassailing has enjoyed a revival in recent years, with families and communities bringing back the old customs as a way to connect with their cultural heritage, and celebrate the changing seasons.

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How To Make This Hot Drink

  • Add to a 4 quart slow cooker: cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, ginger beer, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fresh cranberries.
  • Stir until combined.
  • Thinly slice the orange and lemon.
  • Add orange slices and lemon slices to the slow cooker ingredients.
  • Cook on low for at least 2 hours before serving.

Helpful Tips

  • I tried to cut out as many calories from this recipe as I could. I used diet Ocean Spray cranberry juice, Trop50 orange juice, and diet ginger beer. Knowing it was a skinny 60 calories per serving made it even tastier and more enjoyable!
  • Other items that can be added/substituted: pineapple juice, lemon juice, apple slices, ground cinnamon, star anise, whole allspice berries, or any other fruit juices.
  • An added bonus to warming this delicious drink in a Crock-pot is that as it simmers, it makes your house smell wonderful.
  • If you don’t have a Crock-Pot, it works just as well to simmer the mixture on the stovetop in a large pot or stock pot, using medium-low heat.

Even if you don’t plan to go wassailing this holiday season, I enthusiastically recommend that you whip up a pot of this hot wassail recipe anyway! It’s a delicious and spicy treat that’s the perfect drinkfor Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day. Start a new family tradition by serving this warm drink at your holiday gatherings.It also makes a wonderfulcozy drink on a cold day!

More Festive Holiday Drinks

  • Crockpot Hot Chocolate
  • Cranberry Christmas co*cktail
  • Pomegranate + Lime Spritzer

Homemade Wassail Recipe

Fill your home with the scent of Christmas by making this homemade wassail recipe for family and friends in your slow cooker. Easy and delicious!

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5 from 2 votes

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Ann Drake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cranberry juice
  • 2 cups apple juice or apple cider
  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 1 1/2 cups ginger beer or ginger ale
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 orange
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 teaspoon whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

Instructions

  • Add to a 4 quart slow cooker: cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, ginger beer, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fresh cranberries.

  • Stir until combined.

  • Thinly slice the orange and lemon.

  • Add slices to slow cooker ingredients.

  • Cook on low for at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes

I used Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry, Tropicana Trop50, diet ginger beer, and apple juice (no sugar added.) When calculated with these ingredients, a 10 oz. serving has 60 calories.

This recipe can be doubled if a larger slow cooker is used.

Nutrition

Serving: 10oz. | Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 407mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 268IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg

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If you make this recipe, and love it, please come back to leave a comment and a 5-star review. I would really appreciate it, and it would help me so much. Thank you!

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The Best Hot Homemade Wassail Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between wassail and mulled cider? ›

There are very few differences between mulled cider and Wassail Punch. Both contain spices and some juice. One of the main differences is that mulled wine is often made with whole oranges. However, Wassail is traditionally made with apple juice.

What is wassail drink made of? ›

What is Wassail? Wassail is like the tastier sister to Apple Cider. Traditional wassail was made with hard liquor, apples, brandy, and other spices. This recipe is made with cloves, apples, cinnamon, lemon, orange, ginger, and nutmeg and is a nonalcoholic wassail recipe.

What culture is wassail from? ›

The text of the carol employs noun and verb forms of “wassail,” a word derived from the Old Norse ves heil and the Old English was hál and meaning “be in good health” or “be fortunate.” The phrase found first use as a simple greeting, but the Danish-speaking inhabitants of England seem to have turned was hail, and the ...

What is the wassail dispensed from a wassail bowl? ›

Wassail is a hot, mulled punch often associated with Yuletide, often drunk from a 'wassail bowl'. The earliest versions were warmed mead into which roasted crab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called 'lambswool' drunk on Lammas day, still known in Shakespeare's time.

What are the two types of wassailing? ›

The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail.

Does the alcohol cook out of mulled cider? ›

Spiking Mulled Cider

Add alcohol to a single mug or the batch of cider after cooking so the alcohol doesn't cook off.

Does wassail go bad? ›

Spiced Fragrant Apple Cider Blend Wassail

A: There is no expiration date.

What is the smell of wassail? ›

Wassail, as we know it today, is a warm, spiced apple drink. The combination of apples, oranges, cinnamon, and other spices smells amazing and tastes even better.

What is in Trader Joe's winter wassail punch? ›

A sweetened blend of black currant, apple, and lemon juices, with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and orange peel, Trader Joe's Winter Wassail is a fruit punch whose flavors and aromas evoke the holidays. You can serve it chilled, over ice with bourbon; or warmed, in a big mug, with a cinnamon stick garnish.

What religion is the wassail? ›

Wassailing is a Twelfth Night tradition with pagan roots and has been practised in Britain for centuries. Discover the celebration and its rituals, including sipping from a communal wassail bowl.

What is wassailing in the Bible? ›

As England became a Christianized nation, farmers began wassailing on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, asking the Infant Christ to bless the trees and grant them good fruit. Wassailing eventually became the practice of going door-to-door with bowls of wassail, singing and sometimes expecting recompense.

How to do a wassail? ›

What generally happens is that pieces of toast soaked in cider are placed around the oldest or finest tree in the orchard, cider is poured round the base then shot guns are fired into the upper branches, buckets are beaten and a general cacophony of noise made to scare away evil spirits and wake the sleeping trees.

What to eat with wassail? ›

“Wassail” is a traditional English punch, consisting of mulled cider and spices. It's very easy to make, and is traditionally served with cinnamon sticks and apple cake, but is also a great complement to either a full meal or appetizers.

How do you organize a wassail? ›

Urban wassails can be centred on a marketplace, single tree, or allotment site; so don't be tied to convention! Why bother? The story goes by singing to the trees, by dancing on the land, by lighting fires, and making lots of noise. The trees awaken from their winter slumber, and the sap slowly begins to rise.

What does wassail mean in Old English? ›

1. : an early English toast to someone's health. 2. : a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime.

What is the difference between mulled cider and regular cider? ›

This simmering process imbues the cider with a warm, fragrant, and spiced flavor, creating a deliciously comforting beverage perfect for colder seasons. So, while apple cider is fresh and tangy, mulled cider is warm and spiced — both delightful in their own ways!

What is mulled cider made of? ›

Mulled apple cider is unfiltered apple juice that's been heated and flavored with mulling spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and allspice; and fruits like oranges, lemons, and apples.

What happens at a wassail? ›

Wassailing is an annual tradition of blessing orchards to ensure a good harvest for the year to come. This Anglo-Saxon celebration, involving music, song and dancing, traditionally took place on Twelfth Night. Nowadays, wassails are hosted between late December and February.

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