Punch, eggnog, wassail, mulled wine and more. There are many ways to fill a glass to raise for special occasions, including the holidays and the new year. Ring in the season with these holiday drink recipes, curated by Real Food Traveler readers by our very own Food History Editor, Suzanne Corbett.

Save these holiday drink recipes and article to Pinterest to keep them handy. Photos courtesy of Canva.com. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Historic Cups of Cheer: Holiday Drink Recipes

If there ever was a season better suited for grandmother’s punch bowl, it’s now. Winter. The holidays and beyond when cold nights become the catalyst for huddling around a punch bowl. A communal bowl by nature that invites one to gather and revel in social comradery. Something a solitary bottle, simply does not.

Punch, considered the original cocktail, served hot or cold, with or without alcohol, has an unclear origin. Some historians link punch to the Romans who sweeten and spiced wine and other spirits. Other historians consider punch, ladled from a bowl is linked to India. A link that’s rooted in its name. Punch derived from the Hindi word pāñch, meaning “five” since five was often the number of ingredients found in in punch recipes – spirits, water, citrus, sugar and spice.  A recipe embraced and carried back with 17th century sailors from the East India Company whose puncheon, a sailor’s rum cask, held the key ingredient to the sailor’s grog (rum, lime, sugar and water).

No matter the recipe, punch’s popularity revolved around the sociability of the punch bowl. Humble inns would have plain salt glazed pottery or perhaps a cauldron to ladle mulled wine or wassail made with spiced ale and apples, while the gentry class would ladle it from Chinese porcelain. During America’s Gilded Age, society dipped nogg and libations of cheer from polished silver punch bowls with matching cups. Nonetheless the pedigreed of the punch and its variations and traditions are a thing to savor on the road.

Hungry for more? Read about The Official Downton Abbey cookbook.

Rise a cup of warm gluhwien ladled from a from an oversized pot at a German Christmas Market or hot spiced glogg while skiing in Norway or Sweden.  Raise a cup and toast Wassail with one of the ancient recipes for wassail that can involve hot ale and apples to warm wine and cream as prepared by the mummers who roamed Britian’s south -west apple growing region.

Wassailing has enjoyed a comeback, especially in England. To plan a wassailing experience for next year, turn to the Tradfolk Wassail Directory. It lists a number of wassail festivals and mummer events throughout England. At home in the States, I visit historic sites where punch is on the menu. Look for mulled wine, wassail, glogg and gluhwein in places as Colonial Williamsburg, Greenfield Village, the Swedish village of Bishop Hill, Illinois and the German Missouri River town of Hermann. Look in unexpected destinations such as Silver Dollar City in Branson where spiced cider, a non-alcohol wassail, fills punch bowl.

Don’t forget the eggnog or sack posset – the granddaddy of eggnog are recipes that has been drunk for centuries. And while celebrating in New Orleans, order up a cup of its famous Milk Punch, is a must during carnival season, which begins January 6, (12th Night).

Welcome the New Year and winter-over well with a cup of cheer filled from a punch bowl filled with libations steeped in tradition. Begin with Wassail made from mulling ale, or wine. And to make it a touch more historic add “lamb’s wool” – roasted apples that will look frothy and puffy floating in the punch bowl referred to as lamb’s wool.

An 1842 Illustrated London News depiction of Father Christmas standing next to a bowl of wassail. Public Domain.

 Wassail with Lamb’s wool

Serves about 20

Ingredients:
6 bottles ale
12 small apples
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds
2 sticks cinnamon, broken in half
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 bottle dry sherry

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Core apples and cut a one-inch strip of the peel from the middle of the apple.
Place apples on a baking pan and bake for 20 minutes or until apples are tender.
Tie the cloves, allspice and cardamom into a cheesecloth bag.
Place it with 1 bottle of ale, the ginger and nutmeg, into a kettle and heat over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Remove the bag; pour in the rest of the ale, the sugar and sherry.
Heat for 20-minutes.
Pour into a large bowl and float the apples on top.

Silver Dollar City’s Christmas Wassail

Makes 1 gallon

Ingredients:
1 gallon apple cider
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
10 two-inch cinnamon sticks
6 oranges studded with whole cloves

Directions:
Combine all the above ingredients together in a large stockpot and heat to 150 degrees.

Hungry for more? Read about a Silver Dollar City Christmas getaway.  

Brennan’s Milk Punch

Recipe courtesy Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group

 Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients:
2 ounces whole milk
2 ounces cream
1 ½ ounce bourbon or brandy
1-1/2 ounces simple syrup with a dash of vanilla
Ice
Nutmeg for garnish

Directions:
In a shaker add ice, milk, cream, bourbon, syrup and vanilla.
Shake and pour over fresh ice and garnish with nutmeg.

Mulled Cider Wassail

Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients:
Whole cloves
1 orange, sliced
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole star allspice
1quart apple cider
2 bottles red wine

Directions:
Push cloves into the top, middle and bottom of orange.
Cut orange into slices between clove lines.
Place in a large saucepan.
Add cinnamon stick, allspice, and cider.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Add red wine and heat until warm.
Serve in mugs or punch cups.

-Story by Suzanne Corbett, Real Food Traveler Food History Editor

Hungry for more? Enjoy even more holiday drink recipes from our travels.