The Best Wassail Recipe: So Easy - Feeding Your Fam (2024)

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What does wassail mean in English? ›

Synonyms of wassail. 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.

Wassailing is an English tradition which comes from the UK's cider making regions like the South West. It involves 'waking the trees' by banging pots and pans, singing,, dancing, and making lots of noise to ward off bad spirits and encourage a good harvest in the year to come.

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 ...

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.

Wassail (/ˈwɒsəl/, /-eɪl/ WOSS-əl, -⁠ayl, most likely from Old Norse "ves heill") is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ...

“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.

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.

Because wassail is made with fruit juices and spices such as cinnamon and ginger, it can be soothing for a cold, and may even be helpful in easing congestion.

The word “wassail” comes from the Middle English toast, “waes hael”, meaning “be thou hale”, which in turn means “be in good health”. The phrase, “waes hael” dates back to pre-Norman times, so if you do decide to get outside and try a quick wassail, you'll be following a time-honoured tradition.

Wassailing is an age-old West Country tradition to awaken the apple trees and scare evil spirits away to bring on a plentiful harvest. It's still widely popular in the cider-producing counties of the West Country, including Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset and Herefordshire.

What does wassailing have to do with Christmas? ›

For centuries, wassailing was a popular part of Christmas and New Year celebrations. The word 'wassail' comes from the Old Norse for 'good health', and wassailing generally involved drinking to peoples' health, often while singing about it. Special communal drinking bowls developed.

'Wassail', from Old Norse, is a toast: 'your health', to which the answer is 'drinc hael': 'I drink to your health.

But it wasn't just the spelling that altered to, it was the meaning, for waes hail as a salutation was now being applied as a drinking formula – something you say before having a swig of an alcoholic beverage. Modern equivalents would be cheers!