The days we pass with anxious twittering
While death and lies contest the agora
And what we had to make our sojourns sweet
Stands out of reach without a sure return.
Yet what remains is Lush Hour Sixty One.
While death and lies contest the agora
And what we had to make our sojourns sweet
Stands out of reach without a sure return.
Yet what remains is Lush Hour Sixty One.
Today’s Toast is a turn-of-the-last-century fave from the windward reaches of the British West Indies, the Green Swizzle. Whether the Ice House in Bridgetown or the Queen’s Park Hotel in Port of Spain made the better one was an open question. Hand sanitation, not so much.
You could make the Swizzle with white rum, of course. You can go strong or mellow or mix the two.
Yet equally canonical was gin. It was the British West Indies, after all. Same options.
Then the Falernum (it’s supposed to be greenish, but I’ve had this one for at least 15 years; still tastes ok). If you ain’t got, you could try a 2:1 mix of Rose’s and orgeat, or just use simple syrup. Or, what the hell, something like Drambuie.
Plus wormwood bitters. I doubt you have that and don’t know why I do. Absinthe will work, or something good and bitter like Campari.
The rest of the stuff:
Your playthings. If you don’t have the ice-bag and mallet, you can use a towel and a heavy skillet. If you don’t have the swizzle stick, a long spoon works almost as well.
So. Exsanguinate the lime. You want an ounce of juice.
Once you’ve dumped that into your Very Large Glass (you want something that won’t blink at a pint of liquid), add an ounce of the Falernum (or whatever).
Two ounces of gin. For no reason I can fathom, I split it between the strong and the slightly less strong.
Short barspoon of the absinthe bitters (if you’re reduced to Campari, go with half an ounce). Malört would work here—and only here. Short barspoonful, if that.
Ice. Into the sack and breaky breaky.
Scoop the shrapnel and debris into your glass. Use a lot.
And now swizzle. Gonuntil the glass frosts.
Hit the glass up with a little fuzzy water and bob the swizzle stick or spoon up and down a couple of times to fold it in.
Now, there was also a Red Swizzle, which used Angostura bitters. I like to make my Green Swizzle into a Red on Green Swizzle bynlashing the top liberally with Angostura. Your call.
Straws.
And there stands the glass. One of the most refreshing drinks I know.
Today’s Toast is brought to you by Foot’s Bath Cabinet. “More Than Just a Foot Bath, Chum.”
