Ginger Switchel
Apple cider vinegar, ginger, and sweetener — the Colonial haymakers' punch documented since the 1700s, America's earliest electrolyte drink long predating Gatorade.
- 1 ozapple cider vinegar
- 1 ozhoney or maple syrup
- ½ ozfresh ginger juice(or muddled ginger)
- 6 ozcold water(still or sparkling)
- candied gingergarnish
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The Ginger Switchel is a revival of one of America's oldest functional beverages. Switchel — also called haymakers' punch — was a standard drink for farm workers throughout colonial and 19th-century America, made by combining water, apple cider vinegar, ginger, and sweetener (molasses, honey, or maple syrup) for a drink that replaced electrolytes and provided energy during hay harvesting and other physical labor. The earliest American switchel recipes date to the 1700s, and the drink was considered an early sports drink centuries before Gatorade was invented. The craft beverage revival of the 2010s rediscovered switchel as a drinking vinegar with natural probiotic potential from the raw apple cider vinegar and as a pre-industrial hydration formula that rivaled modern electrolyte drinks. Ginger's additional digestive and anti-inflammatory benefits gave the modern switchel an additional wellness appeal.
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