Old Timey Switchel
It may amuse readers to learn that, when I was a pub owner, I was more concerned about the health effects of soda pop than liquor on my customers.
Soft drinks have become an appalling concoction of chemicals sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, or even worse, aspartame.
Lots of people assume that drinking juice is a healthier choice, but alas! Many juice products are just as unhealthy as soda pop! They too are sweetened with HFCS and, to compound the problem, the juice is pasteurized , which kills all the helpful and healthful enzymes. You end up drinking a lifeless glass of calories and sugar. Yum!!
Soft drink companies jumped on the high fructose corn syrup band wagon back in the 1980’s. Corn had become one of the most highly subsidized crops in the US, so it was cheap and plentiful. And today, HFCS is likely made with genetically modified corn, FrankenFood, a further very good reason to avoid the crap. HFCS was and is much cheaper than sugar, and so this is also when the size of soda portions exploded.
If you are of a certain age, remember when a bottle of pop was only 6 or 10 ounces in size? Today, pop comes in barrels.
Imagine! It was more satisfying when made with real sugar, too, because as researchers have been finding out, our metabolism reacts differently to HFCS than to sugar. Our bodies don’t register hunger satisfaction as quickly with HFCS as with sugar, which leads dieticians to believe this has contributed to both the obesity and diabetes epidemic that is smacking us.
So what’s a health conscious and thirsty person to do?
Our New England forebears created a drink for hot and thirsty laborers they called “Switchel.”
Basic switchel is usually some combination of cold water, molasses, cider vinegar and ginger.
The recipe for switchel came into being through an interplay of Colonial medical philosophy, trade patterns, available ingredients, public health concerns, the nascent temperance movement and good old down home Yankee practicality.
In the mid to late 1700’s, workers drank huge quantities of rum to make it through their day. New England rum, distilled from West Indies molasses, was so cheap and plentiful that even common laborers could afford to get drunk every day.
In the 18th century, water was not generally considered fit to drink. This was partly due to contamination concerns, but also to the way people understood the human body to work. Rum was better than water, it was thought, as water was downright dangerous! It was thought that as a person sweated during hot work, refreshment should be hot and stimulating rather than cool and hydrating in order to maintain the proper balance of “bodily humours.”
Switchel was considered a healthful alternative to rum as the ingredients mimicked the hot sensation of liquor while providing water and electrolytes, not to mention encouraging sobriety!
By the 1800’s it had become a tradition to serve switchel to thirsty farmers at harvest time, when it acquired the alternate name of “Haymaker’s Punch.”
Switchel recipes can be tweaked however you like. I personally don’t care for the molasses version, it goes down syrupy like liquid pumpkin pie. I prefer to make it with maple syrup or honey as the sweetener. In fact, I am drinking a glass right now that I made with filtered water, honey, (dissolved in hot water first) freshly grated gingerroot, organic apple cider vinegar and fresh lemon juice.
It’s refreshing and hydrating, and has the added benefit of helping to alkalize the body. Although cider vinegar and lemon juice are both acidic compounds, when you ingest them they have an alkalizing effect on your organism, which is very good for you.
When your body’s PH is in the acidic range it can cause a number of health problems and even make it more difficult to lose weight. A body that has a healthy PH level can fight off infections and illnesses far more effectively.
If you like fresh-made lemonade, you will probably enjoy switchel. Using cider vinegar for the tart is much more economical than lemons as well., although I do like to add the juice from at least one lemon to my batches of switchel.
I also like using organic apple cider vinegar rather than the commercial, pasteurized stuff. I like the taste better, and organic vinegar is still alive with the yeasts that caused it to ferment and become vinegar, and these organisms help support our intestinal health.
Here is a basic recipe:
Switchel
- 1 cup sugar, or use honey or maple syrup to taste
- 7 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger, or 1 tsp ground
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 8 cups cold water
If you try this, start off with less vinegar and then add to taste. If you aren’t used to the flavor, it will overwhelm your taste buds. You also may enjoy it made with molasses, feel free to experiment!
This stuff will last almost indefinitely in the refrigerator as well, although if you like it as much as I do, it won’t be around that long!
Bon Appetit!
