Hot Mulled Cider

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Learn how to make the most delicious, alcohol free Hot Mulled Cider – perfect for chilly fall and winter evenings. This classic holiday drink is spiced with cinnamon, star anise, orange and cloves for an old fashioned mulled cider recipe that will take your apple juice to the next level!

It’s the season for Hot Mulled Cider! An absolutely incredibly delicious fall or holiday beverage. Easy to make… and a perfect way to warm up on chilly nights.

I have a special love for hot cider. My husband and I were married in November. It was a chilly, blustery day with late autumn color. It was spectacular. When our guests reached the reception, hot mulled cider was waiting for them. 

Come November, you can imagine I’m making this cider often!

Whether you wait until New Years, or Twelfth Night… or are like me and begin mulling cider when the apples ripen on the trees, I wish you ves heill. All season long. Curl up by the fire with this delicious, soul-warming cider.

Is Hot Mulled Cider Like Wassail?

Essentially… yes.

The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Old Norse ves heill which literally means… good health or to be in good health.

The ancient tradition of wassailing was the Middle Ages practice of visiting door-to-door, singing, and being offered a drink the from wassail bowl in exchange for gifts. Although still practiced in Northern England and Scotland, the tradition has largely been replaced by caroling.

Wassailing is most often celebrated on New Years or Twelfth Night (January 5 or 6), and was a charitable exchange of sorts between feudal lords and their peasants.

“Wassail” appears in English literature as a salute as early as the eighth-century poem “Beowulf.” 

And, of course, in the lyrics to a loved English carol, composed in 1850:

Here we come a-Wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering,
So fairly to be seen.
Here we come a wandering
So fairly to be seen.
Love and joy come to you
And to you a Wassail too
God bless you and send you,
A Happy New Year
God send you a Happy New Year.

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