Summer Drink recipe

[la_samtyr]

I'm going to try this.

Switchel: An Age-Old Drink Rediscovered

http://www .almanac.com/blog /cooking-blog/ switchel-age-old-drink-rediscovered

by Catherine Boeckmann

July 28, 2015
Credit: Catherine Boeckmann

Need a cool drink on a hot day? You should try making switchel, a colonial-era refresher. I just rediscovered this drink in The Old Farmer's Almanac archives.

Switchel was how hardworking farmers in early America's agricultural days quenched their thirst out in the hot, sunbaked fields. That's enough of an endorsement for me!

This drink is also called Haymaker's Punch (because it was drunk while haying fields), switchel is easy to make with just a few ingredients.

Cider vinegar is a key ingredient—which many folks find has added health benefits. Switchel is not only hydrating, but also energizing. It will give you that electrolyte boost better than any pricey energy drink or soda. It's basically a health tonic (but don't tell your children).


Here's a classic recipe. It's been updated with the input of Dennis Miles, an Almanac Facebook fan and full-time blacksmith. He drinks his switchel from a mid-19th century haymaker's jug. (Dennis, send us a photo!)
Switchel Drink Recipe

1 gal. water
2 cups raw or dark brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ginger

Serve in mason jars.

My friend, Wendy, and I decided to make a pitcher one summer's day.

Mmmm! Switchel is so refreshing and pleasantly tart. And, boy, is it drinkable—much more so than plain water. I'll say that it did quench my thirst for water, but not for switchel. We drank half the pitcher and felt quite, ah, saturated!

You can make the switchel last longer or less sweet by adding more water or a bubbly seltzer. My guess is it could turn into a cocktail drink, too.

Drink from a mason jar or jug if you have one!

Comments

[ysilme]

Interesting - it sounds quite similar to the regular-but-boosted apple spritzer that's well-known hereabouts as "old-fashioned energy drink". It consists mainly of a "thick apple spritzer", meaning half apple juice and half mineral water, with a pinch of salt for the electrolytes (for half a litre of liquid). The apple juice needs to be a natural, unsweetened one, preferably of the naturally cloudy variety, and the mineral water a good one with well-balanced minerals, too (both are very common drinks in Germany).
The unsweetend, naturally cloudy apple juice is said to have lots of healty nutrients and electrolytes.
I've never tried it with ginger and definitely am going to, as I love ginger. Do you know what kind of ginger is meant? Fresh and grated, or...?

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

Really? That's very interesting to know. I'm not sure about the ginger. My guess would be fresh and grated as opposed to dried and in a container. I would grate fresh and use only half, then add to -- fresh is usually stronger but it all depends on your taste.

[ysilme]

Thanks! I'll try fresh, as I really like the taste. Our regular drink for hot days is cold herbal tea, either mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena (all of these I grow in the garden), or a mixture of them, or mint or lemon verbena with ginger. For the ginger recipe, I put about half an inch to an inch ginger root in thin slices in the hot tea and let steep over night.