The Switchel Episode

Now here’s what really makes a swizzle a swizzle. The swizzle stick.

This is literally a stick from a small tree native to the Caribbean that’s taken from the tree and trimmed so that it has a few shoots extending from the end at different angles. And the way you use this stick is you put your rum and your switchel in a collins or highball glass, you fill it with crushed or pebble ice, and you vigorously spin the stick between your palms until the drink mixes and froths and the glass gets frosty (see image).

Then, you remove the swizzle stick from the drink, add a nice healthy bitters float to the top, garnish with any fresh fruit or mint you have available, and enjoy with a straw.

SHOW NOTES

Switchel is an apple cider vinegar- and ginger-based drink that has been around for centuries, if not millennia. Here’s what you need to know about switchel, and Sip City in particular!

Switchel Fun Facts

• One important switchel precursor is Oxymel (meaning “vinegar and honey”), pioneered by the ancient Greeks. This was often infused with herbs and used as medicine.
• In medieval Europe, apothecaries and healers used sweetened, acidified, herb-infused drinks as tonics for various ailments, from gut trouble to gout.
• Switchel made its way to the new world and took root in both the Caribbean and the American colonies. In the Caribbean, it was paired with rum and sweetened with molasses and cane sugar, and in the colonies, it was called “Haymaker’s Punch,” and often served to field workers as a refreshing and replenishing drink.

Switchel vs. Combucha vs. Shrub

All three of these tangy beverages involve a sweetener and some sort of fruit or herbal flavoring. Switchels tend to be ginger and honey focused, whereas shrubs and combuchas don’t necessaryily contain ginger. Switchels and shrubs are non-fermented (or prebiotic), whereas Kombucha goes through a couple rounds of fermentation.

SIP CITY SWITCHEL

Taking Switchel into the 21st century, here’s a quick review of the Sip City lineup, which you can find at fine retailers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New York. Visit Sip City’s store finder to locate the closest retailer to you.

Mocktails VS. Eanabs

Switchels (along with shrubs) have proven themselves to be really excellent as cocktail replacements for people who don’t want to consume alcohol. In particular, the ginger in the switchel burns similarly to alcohol, but doesn’t intoxicate.

Today, there is a growing trend of people who are recognizing that their drinking habits are potentially worrisome. However, they also want something that tastes as appealing as a cocktail and doesn’t feel like a lesser option.

Thus was born the term “EANAB” – which is an acronym that stands for “Equally Attractive Non-Alcoholic Beverage.” It is meant to replace the term “mocktail,” which implies that something is missing or “fake.”

Favorite Cocktail

I like mezcal riffs on traditional cocktails – so a mezcal manhattan, or negroni, or margarita.

If You Were a Cocktail Tool or Ingredient, What Would You Be?

I would be a strainer – making sure that none of the B.S. gets through.

Cocktail with Anyone, Past or Present?

I’d have martinis with Jane Fonda in a dark, classy speakeasy.

How to Learn about Switchel

There’s lots of great books out there on shrubs and switchels and ingredients. Some useful ones include:

• The Drunken Botanist – Amy Stewart
• Shrubs: An Old-Fashioned Drink for Modern Times – Michael Dietsch
• Wild Drinks & Cocktails : Handcrafted Squashes, Shrubs, Switchels, Tonics, and Infusions to Mix at Home – Emily Han

Also, making switchel at home is very easy to do, so a quick google search will yield some great DIY recipes that you can tweak to your own flavor preferences. Just make sure you’re diluting your apple cider vinegar.