Oliver Pluff & Company asked the question, 'What teas were thrown in the harbor during the Boston Tea Party?' We sought what tea gardens supplied the British East India Company in the markets at Canton, China in the 17th and 18th centuries. We recreated those blends and hope to share a cup of history with you!
Oliver Pluff's Wassail Cider Spices
Quantity: 1.5oz Spices - Brews 1 Gallon
Contents: Cinnamon Sticks, Cut Ginger, Ground Nutmeg
For a Gallon Brew: Fill a pot with 1 gallon of fresh apple cider, or ale, or mead. Mix in cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg with ½ cup sugar, and simmer at low heat for 1-2 hours. Strain, then serve hot, topping each cup with a slice of toast.
History: Wassail (Middle English 'wæs hæl' - ‘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. A group then sings: “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.”