Sweet and tart, switchel, also known as haymaker’s punch, is essentially lemonade’s half-sibling, without all the squeezing. Made with fresh ginger and cider vinegar instead of freshly squeezed fruit, this nonalcoholic beverage comes together in a fraction of the time and is just as customizable. Use this recipe as a guideline, adding more sweetener, vinegar or water to taste. We have included two fruity options in the Variations, below.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Ingredients
Servings: 6 (makes 6 3/4 cups)
Directions
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Step 1
In a medium pot over high heat, or in a kettle, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Transfer to a heat-proof pitcher, then add the sugar, molasses and ginger. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add the remaining 4 cups of water and the vinegar. Taste, and add more sugar, vinegar and/or water as desired. Serve right away, over ice, or refrigerate until needed.
Substitutions
Molasses >> Maple syrup, honey or sorghum syrup.
Brown sugar >> Granulated sugar or monk fruit sweetener.
Variations
To make a peach switchel: In a blender, puree one (16-ounce) bag of defrosted frozen peaches, or about 3 cups of chopped fresh peaches, with 2 cups of water until smooth. You should get about 4 cups of puree; if you end up with less, add just enough water to yield 4 cups total.
Then follow the base recipe, using honey in place of molasses and the peach puree instead of the 4 cups of water. Stir in the puree at the same time you add the vinegar.
To make an apple switchel: Follow the base recipe, replacing the molasses with maple syrup. After you add the 2 cups boiling water, stir in only 1 additional cup of water, along with the vinegar and 3 cups of apple juice (any type).
