Wassail - Definition and Overview

Wassail is a spiced punch drunk at Twelfth Night and Christmas celebrations. Wassail is most commonly recognized as an obscure reference in various traditional Christmas carols (for example, "Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green"). The term derived from the Old English wes hál, meaning "be in good health," and was originally used as a toast, the appropriate response being "drink-hail!"

While the beverage typically served as "wassail" at modern holiday feasts with a medieval theme most closely resembles mulled cider, historical wassail was completely different, more likely to be mulled beer. Sugar, ale, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon would be placed in a bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast as sops. Hence the first stanza of the traditional carol the Gloucestershire Wassail dating back to the Middle Ages:

Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.