A Rum Swizzle, the national drink of Bermuda, has a long and interesting history. The cocktail is enjoyed in bars across the island nation and the modern version is strongly associated with the Swizzle Inn, home to Bermuda’s oldest pub.
An authentic version of a Rum Swizzle is made using a swizzle stick, a long stem snapped off a tree native to the Caribbean which has 5 or 6 horizontal prongs. They have aromatic bark on them, which, if shaken vigorously enough, would have given early swizzles a slightly bitter/spicy flavour. This is why you will see aromatic bitters in most versions of this cocktail outside of the Caribbean.
The sign of a perfect Swizzle is said to be when a thick layer of frost forms on the outside of the glass, after spinning a Swizzle Stick rapidly between your hands inside a cold cocktail.
Swizzle Sticks are not easy to come by around here, unfortunately, but we can achieve a similar result using a cocktail shaker. Then why not attempt to find or make your own Swizzle Stick
Rum Swizzle recipes vary, but most have these three ingredients in common: rum, fruit juice and a sweetener such as grenadine or falernum. Each bartender will have different variations and methods of preparing this drink but here’s my favourite.
Serves 1
Ingredients
25ml - Welsh Soul Rum
25ml - White Rum
50ml - Orange Juice
50ml - Pineapple Juice
A splash of Grenadine
2 dash angostura bitters
Method
Half fill a shaker or jug with ice.
Add Welsh Soul Rum, white rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine and stir well.
Place some ice into glasses and pour your cocktail mix into the glasses
Give each glass a couple of dashes of bitters, garnish with an orange wedge and your swizzle stick.