Queen's Park Swizzle
Aged rum, lime, mint and sugar, swizzled on crushed ice and capped with a heavy dose of bitters. Trinidad's showpiece.
- MethodSwizzled
- GlassCollins glass
- IceCrushed
- Strengthabout 16.5% ABV
- BaseRum
- Tasterefreshing, herbal, bitter
Recipe
| 8 leaves | Fresh mint |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Demerara syrup (2:1) |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lime juice |
| 60 ml 2 oz | Aged rum or Jamaican rum (aged) |
| 6 dashes | Aromatic bitters (Angostura-style) |
Garnish. A tall sprig of mint pushed into the ice next to the straw.
Method
- Press the mint lightly with the syrup in the bottom of a collins glass, then rub the leaves around the inside of the glass.
- Add the lime juice and rum and fill the glass with crushed ice.
- Swizzle by spinning a swizzle stick or barspoon between your palms until the glass frosts.
- Top with more crushed ice and shake the bitters over it so they form a red layer on top.
About the Queen's Park Swizzle
The Queen's Park Swizzle is a mint-scented rum sour churned over crushed ice until the glass is frosted, then crowned with a deep red layer of aromatic bitters. The first sips are spicy and bitter, and the drink grows fresher and more limey as the layers mix. A Demerara-style rum from Guyana suits it well.
History
Earliest record 1946: Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink
Documented
The drink takes its name from the Queen's Park Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, which opened in the 1890s and was a centre of colonial social life for decades. Swizzles, stirred with a forked twig until frosted, were a Caribbean habit long before. The Queen's Park Swizzle reached print through Victor Bergeron (Trader Vic), whose Book of Food and Drink (1946) praised it; his Bartender's Guide of 1947 gives a recipe.
Legend and lore
The drink is commonly said to date from the 1920s. The hotel's own 1932 recipe booklet does not include it, which makes a later origin, or even an invention by Bergeron loosely inspired by the hotel, at least as likely.
Disputed or unclear: The date of creation, and whether the hotel or Trader Vic devised this exact recipe, are both unclear.
Variations
- Green Swizzle. The older Caribbean swizzle, made with rum and a dash of green herbal bitters or absinthe.
- Mojito. Lighter rum, lengthened with soda and without the bitters.
- Mint Julep. The whiskey relative: no citrus, just spirit, mint and sugar on crushed ice.
Bartender's notes
- A traditional bois lélé swizzle stick works best, but a barspoon spun between flat palms will do.
- Add the bitters last and do not stir them in; the layer is the point of the presentation.
