WASSAIL BOWL as served annually at Lewes Saturday Folk Club's Wassail night

5 pints Harveys Old Ale
3 large dry sherries
1 pint apple juice

2 oranges, with the peel removed in a single strip and the juice squeezed out
5 thin slices fresh root ginger
3 x 10 cm sticks of cinnamon
1 whole nutmeg, freshly grated
4 baby clementines cut in half, with 8-10 whole cloves stuck in the peel of each one, or 8 kumquats with a few whole cloves stuck in each
3 heaped tablespoons of soft dark brown sugar

Put all the flavouring ingredients in a plastic lidded box about 12 hours before you want the wassail, so that the sugar and orange juice start to draw the flavour out of the fresh spices and the juice out of the clementines.

Add them to the old ale, sherry and apple juice in a large pan, heat steadily and start serving when piping hot. This keeps the flavours fresh and not stewed.