As someone interested in Medieval Christmas customs, I’m wondering how to make some of the drinks mentioned in the old literature…like:
(1) wassail…is that a wine-based drink?
(2) christmas “bishop” (mentioned in Dicken’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL
(3) mead
(4) hypocras (this was popular in the late Middle Ages
Anybody have a recipe for these drinks…are they any good? Or are they too heavily spiced for the modern palate?
Some research discovers you want Smoking Bishop.
Wassail, a Middle English phrase meaning to be healthy, is normally served from a punch bowl. Spiced, sweetened ale is actually what it is, usually roasted apples are included. Kinda like bobbing for apples, grownup style. The ale is mosttimes replaced with cider, herein lieth a recipe:
1 gallon cider, sweet or hard
10 2" cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon allspice berries
half-cup of lemon juice
2 cups sugar
a fifth of applejack-brandy made from apples
small roasted apples[optional]
Heat everything but the applejack and apples to a boil, simmer 15 min. Add applejack. Serve hot. You can strain out the spices if you wish. Place in a warmed punch bowl, SLOWLY. Float the optional apples in the wassail.
It was the custom to go visiting on Christmas, and TAKE a bowl of wassail with you. God knows what hijinks ensued after a couple of stops at friends homes. FA LA LA LA LA!