…or haymaker’s punch is a favorite beverage both with the kitchen staff and farm crew here at Chewonki. Switchel may have originated in the 1600’s in the West Indies although the ancient Greeks were drinking oxymel, which was a honey sweetened vinegar syrup.
Herman Melville wrote in I and My Chimney, “I will give a traveler a cup of switchel, if he want it; but am I bound to supply him with a sweet taste?” In The Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder describes a beverage that her mother had sent for Laura and her father to drink while haying: “Ma had sent them ginger-water. She had sweetened the cool well-water with sugar, flavored it with vinegar, and put in plenty of ginger to warm their stomachs so they could drink till they were not thirsty. Ginger-water would not make them sick, as plain cold water would when they were so hot.”
Our recipe is as follows:
Combine in a half-gallon jug-
⅔ c. Lemon Juice
3 tbsp. Cider Vinegar
3 tbsp. Molasses
3 tbsp. Maple Syrup
2 tbsp. Grated Fresh Ginger
Shake well. Fill the jug to the top with cold water and shake some more. Chill if desired and enjoy! Feel free to play around with the amounts, sweeteners and juices. Unsweetened cranberry juice is great (maybe leave out the molasses and double up on the maple).
According to farm manager Megan Phillips, “Switchel made the growing season feel possible last year…”
