Switchel | A Classic New England Summer Drink
Before there were soccer fields and Gatorade, there were hayfields and switchel. Cool off with this old-fashioned switchel recipe from the Yankee archives.
By Katherine Keenan|Jul 08 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanBefore the heyday of Gatorade, farmers who worked up a thirst in the fields would reach for switchel: a mixture of water, ginger, vinegar, and sweetener (most often maple syrup, molasses, brown sugar, or honey).
The original Yankee recipe for “Haymaker’s Switchel” from 1939 reads:
“Switchel — that good old Yankee drink — is nothing more than water seasoned to taste. It is thirst-quenching and inexpensive, and the ingredients are always at hand; furthermore, it holds its own, lacking ice, better than most drinks of its kind.”
Where some switchel recipes call for vinegar, our version of this old-fashioned beverage uses lemon juice. We also prefer molasses for the sweetener, but feel free to experiment with the others mentioned above. (Maple syrup would likely be phenomenal!)
Yield:
5 cupsIngredients
⅓ cup molasses
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups water or seltzer
Instructions
Add all the ingredients to a pitcher and stir until combined. Chill. Serve over ice.
Yet another New England contribution to medicine! Switchel sounds like the basis for ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) now used to address dehydration and death (especially in third-world children) by the World Health Organization — Add a little salt and sodium bicarb, and voila — An even tastier Solution! [See WHO Guidelines for appropriate amounts.] Our Yankee forebears certainly knew what they were doing!
My grandmother and my mother often spoke of the importance of Switchel during my long lost youth. Lemonade was always referred to as Switchel during those hot summer days and evenings as we sat behind the bamboo awning on the patio visiting, another quaint New England term for chatting. I miss those long summer nights sitting with the elders, mother identifying the calls of the nights birds, the genteel discussions often centering on episodes with long lost relatives and the odor of far off cigar smoke of the men as they rocked and told their own stories in the entrance to the garage.
I was told by a family member that back in the day many farmers drank Switchel during their long, hot, and busy days. It not only kept them from becoming dehydrated, but it was also quite a good thirst quencher.
I was just talking about this drink. Now I have a good recipe. Perfect timing . Thank you
There is a book…Folk Medicine by DC Jarvis, a Vermont doctor, which is an interesting read. The book describes the many uses for cider-vinegar/water/honey for farm animal ailments. The positive results on the animals, transferred over to human health for all kinds of ailments. I’ve been drinking it for years without the honey, as I like the sour. The other day, I saw bottles of water with cider-vinegar and honey already mixed, on the store shelf for $3.99. Everything old is new again.
I live in the South but an older gentlemen who came from Maine used to help tend our fields. He brought with him, what I suppose was Switchel. I think it’s an acquired taste. His was made with vinegar and to me was akin to pickle juice. I never developed a taste for it but I know vinegar has many properties that are good for you.
I grew up on a dairy farm ???? n upstate NY. During haying season, especially on hot days, Mom would make a quantity of Swichel ( vinegar and cloves and a little sweetener), drive out out to the field for the men. They swore it cut thirst better than any other drink.