Grandma's Wassail

With this wassail recipe, you can celebrate the Yuletide season in the most traditional (and delicious) way.

What Is Wassail?

Wassail is a hot mulled cider with Nordic roots. It's traditionally enjoyed during wassailing, which is the ancient Yuletide practice of singing door-to-door. The ritual began as a way to ensure a good cider apple harvest for the following year and it persists today (in the form of caroling).

Wassail Ingredients

You'll need just four ingredients to make this top-rated wassail recipe:

· Apple cider: This wassail starts with store-bought apple cider, homemade apple cider, or hard apple cider.· Fruit juices: You’ll need orange juice, lemon juice, and pineapple juice.· Sugar: A cup of white sugar sweetens things up.· Spices: This cozy wassail recipe is spiced with a cinnamon stick and whole cloves.

How to Make Wassail

1. Stir the apple cider, juices, and sugar in a pot over medium-low heat.2. Place the spices in a tea ball and add it to the apple cider mixture.3. Simmer until warm.

Tip: If you don't have a tea ball, place the spice mixture on a small piece of cheesecloth and tie it with a string, forming a small pouch.

The Best Alcohol for Wassail

Easily make this wassail alcoholic by substituting hard apple cider in place of non-alcoholic cider. You can also make the wassail according to the recipe, but spike it with rum, vodka, or whiskey. Do whatever appeals to you!

If you do spike this wassail, though, make sure to keep the mixture at a simmer and not a boil. Otherwise, you'll cook all the alcohol out.