The thirst-quenching drink of haymaking days
Switchel (Haymaker's Punch)
DrinkEvocation🍋 🍯 🌶️facile10 min (+ 1 h infusion)
A cool, lively drink—water, cider vinegar, molasses, and ginger—that farmers drank to quench thirst in the fields: tart, barely sweet, and peppery.
The thirst-quenching drink of haymaking days
A cool, lively drink—water, cider vinegar, molasses, and ginger—that farmers drank to quench thirst in the fields: tart, barely sweet, and peppery.
When June sets the Amherst meadows ablaze, nothing quenches thirst better than this haymaker's brew. I dilute with cool water a little molasses, a dash of cider vinegar, and grated ginger—it's sour, it's sweet, it's alive like a bee. We drink it from a jug, in the shade, between chores. Summer, believe me, is held whole in this tart sip.
Ingredients
- •Fresh spring water — a pitcher (base)
- •Cider vinegar — a dash (refreshing acidity)
- •Molasses — a spoonful (sweetness)
- •Fresh or ground ginger — a pinch (spiciness)
How it was made : Switchel (or 'haymaker's punch') was the energy drink of American harvests before the era of sodas: the vinegar cut thirst and the molasses restored strength. It was prepared in a stoneware jug kept in the shade.
Sources : Lydia Maria Child, The American Frugal Housewife (1829) · New England agricultural traditions — haymaking drink