Wassail (Middle English ‘ws hl’ – be you healthy) refers both to the salute ‘Waes Hail’, and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider drunk as part of wassailing, an English ritual intended to ensure a good apple harvest the following year. Historically, the drink is a mulled cider, mulled beer, or mead, made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with toast.