Drinks

Nutty Swizzle

August 31, 2018 by Jennifer

We’re in our final weekend of the summer. It’s time to let loose and party! That means barbecues, hot dogs, hamburgers and plenty of desserts. There’s just one thing missing: a good… no a great cocktail! Well, as always I’m here to help with that. So this week, I created my own concoction called a Dizzy Swizzle.

I love a good tiki cocktail. One that’s full of rum and citrus and some serious flavor. They always remind me of summer no matter what time of year it is. So, I thought what better way to usher out the final party weekend than with a nice, tall tiki drink?

This time I chose a Swizzle. A swizzle is usually made with Demerara rum, lime juice, simple syrup, mint and Angostura bitters. It’s kinda like a mojito, but what makes this drink all its own are the bitters. Demerara is sweet and smokey but when you add bitters, you add spice and depth. You only get that depth if you stir the bitters into the drink, though. Or rather if you swizzle it in with a swizzle stick.

Now most people think of a swizzle stick as a cool plastic stick with a fun figure or carving at the top of it that’s added to cocktails to make them look cool… and tell you what bar you’re sitting in. But that’s what swizzle sticks have become! It was originally a long, wooden branch with five or six prongs on the end of it, that was used to stir up cocktails. They’re pretty cool looking and they’re still used quite often, especially in Bermuda. See, that’s where the Quararibea turbinata grows. It’s a tree, affectionately known as the swizzlestick tree, whose branches are… you guessed it, used to mix up drinks.

While the swizzle stick was created in Bermuda, the Swizzle cocktail wasn’t created until much later thanks to a bartender at the Queen’s Park Hotel. The Queen’s Park Swizzle became the hotel bar’s signature cocktail and was discovered by Trader Vic (one of the original tiki men) who brought the drink to our shores where it’s deliciousness has lived on. Since then, bartenders all over the world have created their own versions of the Swizzle using a variety of ingredients from coffee to matcha. While the flavors may change, a few things don’t. Every swizzle uses rum, bitters and of course the swizzle stick.

My Swizzle is no different. I used rum and bitters and a swizzle stick. But then I added to it. Remember I said I wanted a drink that would remind me of summer? So, I used coconut milk and cinnamon and amaretto… all flavors that remind me of somewhere warm and tropical. But there was something missing. I wanted a garnish that would add to that. Something that would scream tropical island. But I can’t eat pineapple, so I went with the next best thing: mini coconuts (thanks Melissa’s). Adding a skewer of those cute little coquitos finished off this scrumptious concoction and transported me to sandy beaches and rosy sunsets. A place I’d like to be no matter what time of year it is. Somewhere I’ll be dreaming of this holiday weekend as those cool winds blow and the leaves start to fall.