Switchel
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Stlemur
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recipe has been moved to Wikibooks; comment to this effect
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'''Switchel''', also '''switzel''', '''swizzle''', '''ginger-water''' or '''haymaker's punch''', is a [[drink]] made of [[water]] mixed with [[vinegar]] and [[molasses]], and seasoned with [[ginger]]. [[Honey]], sugar, [[brown sugar]], or [[maple syrup]] were sometimes used to sweeten the drink instead of molasses. In the U.S. state of [[Vermont]], [[oatmeal]] and lemon juice were sometimes added to the beverage.
Switchel originated in the [[West Indies]] and had become a popular summer drink in the [[American Colonies]] in the late 1600s. By the 1800s, it had become a traditional drink to serve to thirsty farmers at [[hay|hay harvest]] time, hence the nickname '''haymaker's punch'''. [[Herman Melville]] wrote in ''[[I and My Chimney]]'', "I will give a traveler a cup of switchel, if he want it." In ''[[The Long Winter]]'' [[Laura Ingalls Wilder]] describes the beverage that her mother sent for Laura and her father to drink while haying: "Ma had sent them ginger-water. She had sweetened the cool well-water with sugar, flavored it with vinegar, and put in plenty of ginger to warm their stomachs so they could drink till they were not thirsty. Ginger-water would not make them sick, as plain cold water would when they were so hot."
Switchel was sometimes kept in a hollow ring-shaped [[canteen]] which could be carried over the shoulder or arm or on the belt.
The [[Vermont]] physician [[D. C. Jarvis]] recommended a similar drink (a mixture of honey and cider vinegar), which he called "honegar."<ref>{{cite book |title=Folk Medicine: A New England Almanac of Natural Health Care from a Noted Vermont Country Doctor |author=D.C. Md Jarvis |date=May 12, 1985 |isbn=978-0449208809 |publisher=[[Fawcett Publications]]}}</ref>
<!--- The Switchel recipe has been moved from Wikipedia to Wikibooks --->
==See also==
*[[Energy drink]]
*[[Gatorade]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
<!--- A traditional harvest drink? Where from? History? Comparison to modern rehydrators? --->
==External links==
{{Cookbook|Switchel}}
[[Category:Non-alcoholic beverages]]
[[Category:Vermont culture]]
[[Category:Vermont cuisine]]
{{drink-stub}}