How to make hot, spiced holiday drinks

The foundation of a good wassail is fresh apple cider.

A hot spiced drink warms the hands and the tongue during the winter holidays. Spicing a warm wine, or slowly warming a vat of holiday wassail, is a simple way to offer holiday hospitality to a house full of guests. Mulled wine, or spiced wine, is a traditional holiday drink in many parts of the world. Wassail is the drink immortalized in the Christmas carol "The Wassail Song" which begins: "Here we come a-wassailing ..."

Things You'll Need

• Apples
• 1 1/2 gallon orange juice
• 1 gallon apple cider
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. nutmeg
• 2 bottles red wine
• 5 slices ginger
• 2 orange peels

Instructions

Mulled Wine

1. Pour wine into large pot. Set stove on low and heat the wine slowly.

2. Add ginger, orange peel and cinnamon. Stir the spices into the wine. For a sweeter wine, add raisins or sweetened, dried cranberries. Do not add sugar as this will give the wine a sticky texture. Add more cinnamon and cloves for a spicier wine.

3. Bring the wine to a low boil, then turn the heat down or off. The wine is ready to serve when it is warm. In a party setting leave the stove at low and serve with a ladle so the wine will stay warm throughout your festivities.

Wassail

1. Pour cider and orange juice into a large pot. Set the stove to low heat. The traditional wassail drink is made with eggs, but modern recipes take many different forms.

2. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks. Stir the mixture slowly.

3. Chop apples into thin slices while the wassail mixture is heating. Add the apples and bring the wassail to a low boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer. The wassail is ready to serve after it has been heated. Leave the pot simmering on the stove to keep the drink warm throughout a party.

References

• Colonial Williamsburg: Wassailing Through History
• Wine Intro: History of Mulled Wine