Wassail, Sorrel Punch, Glogg: Some iconic Christmas drinks from around the world

By Manu Remakant

Christmas calls for a warm drink. Winter libations vary from country to country, culture to culture, often untouched by the passage of time and unfazed by trends and technology.

If creamy eggnog is a favourite in the US and Canada, England sips mulled wine or wassail during Christmas. Scandinavia glugs glogg, while Germany swigs cups of glühwein. If you want your glass bright red, drop by Jamaica to taste its phenomenal drink of the season — the sorrel punch.



Wassail
The legendary Greek physician Hippocrates apparently knew how to spice up his wine to make life more exciting. So did the Romans in the dawn of the first century AD. When this spiced-up drink reached the shores of Britain, the locals were perplexed: they had no wine to tinker with.

So they ingeniously pressed their hard cider to do the dirty job. A new kind of mulled wine was born — the wassail.

Wassail was not just the name of a drink, it was also a way of life in ancient England. In winter, especially on Twelfth Night, farmers would gather around the tallest apple tree in their orchard. On its branches, they would have hung pieces of toast. They would dance around it, singing praises to the good spirits residing therein. “Old Apple tree, old apple tree; We’ve come to wassail thee; To bear and to bow apples enow; Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full; Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.”

They also fired shotguns to scare the evil spirits away. All they wanted from the gods in return was a good harvest in the coming season.

Like many other pagan rituals adopted by Christianity, wassailing became an integral part of Christmas. In the 15th century, the poor in English countryside visited their rich neighbourhoods in large groups to celebrate. They wished their masters good health in return for mulled wine, good food and, of course, money.

Today wassail contains a base of wine, ale or even brandy spiced up and mixed with orange or apples.

Eggnog
When Lady Macbeth in the Shakespearean play wanted to put her husband’s guards to sleep to help him murder King Duncan, she used “drugg’d possets” for the job. It was the same posset — a mix of hot milk, booze, sugar and spices — that later evolved into the eggnog.

With more that 20% ABV (alcohol by volume), the eggnog crossed the Atlantic along with the first colonists. Admirers like George Washington advised his countrymen to drink eggnogs frequently. The cocktail, which was not for the fainthearted, soon became a rage in the US.

How eggnog became the most popular Christmas drink is still a mystery. Maybe the creamy drink, with plenty of fat and protein, was the only defence against harsh winter. Today while eggs, sugar and milk remain the base, the character of the drink varies with the spirit used. You can top it with ground nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, even chocolate shavings. The drink is served in a glass or a punch bowl.

Tom and Jerry
It is a classic cocktail that carries on the tradition of blending warm milk with brandy and rum. Introduced in the US by an Englishman in the 19th century, it is a drink that Americans have taken to — frothy, sweet and warm.

Glogg
Christmas in Scandinavian countries is not complete without glogg, a variety of mulled wine.

Unlike its cousin in Southern Europe, glogg has cardamom pods added to the spicy mix along with raisins and almonds. Stroll along the streets of Finland or Sweden, and you can see various versions of glogg in stores. As you get closer to Christmas, you will be invited to more and more parties where you can taste glogg along with the Danish snack aebleskiver, a magical combination against extreme polar winter.


Glühwein
Glühwein is the German version of mulled wine. A sip from the warm cup, and you will not forget its sweet taste all your life.

For many Germans, if Christmas has an aroma, it is of glühwein, a citrusy wine with an extra shot of amaretto or rum, redolent with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and bitter oranges.

Going back a long way to the 15th century, this can be consumed mit Schuss (as a shot with rum or other liquor).

Sorrel Punch
Jamaicans even dress up their Christmas punch in red. The ruby-redness of the drink comes from dried hibiscus flowers.

They mix hibiscus with sugar, fresh ginger, lime juice and the famous white rum. Relax on a beach under a palm tree — and sip the redness of the chilled sorrel punch.