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Queen's Park Swizzle
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Queen's Park Swizzle
Serve in a Collins glass
| 8 fresh | Mint leaves |
| 2 oz | Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column) |
| 3⁄4 oz | Lime juice (freshly squeezed) |
| 1⁄2 oz | Demerara/Muscovado/brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water) |
| 2 dash | Angostura Aromatic Bitters |
How to make:
- Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
- Prepare garnish of lime wedge and mint sprigs.
- Lightly MUDDLE mint in base of shaker (just to bruise).
- Use a bar spoon to raise the bruised mint up and around the inside of the glass to coat with fragrant mint oils.
- Add other ingredients.
- Two-thirds fill glass with crushed ice and SWIZZLE.
- Fill glass with more crushed ice and briefly CHURN.
- Garnish with lime wedge and mint sprigs bouquet.
- Serve with a straw.
Strength & taste guide:
No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Review:
This close relation to the Mojito is drier, more complex and tad less minty than its sibling. Some like to finish this cocktail with a hefty dose of bitters to colour the crushed ice atop the cocktail but as Martin Cate says in his 2016 book Smuggler's Cove, "even though the bitters look pretty when floated on top, the drink tastes much better when they are swizzled with the rest of the ingredients." Two dashes integrated with the other ingredients is plenty.
History:
Created at the Queen's Park Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The hotel opened on the 15th of January 1895 and it is likely that this cocktail emanated soon after. This luxury hotel was a fashionable stop for Hollywood types and well-heeled vacationers who spread the legend of its tall swizzled signature cocktail. The hotel was also famed for its Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail.
In this 1946, Trader Vics Book of Food and Drink, Victor Bergeron describes the Queen Park Swizzle as "the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today." A year later he also includes this swizzle in his Bartender's Guide By Trader Vic, adding, in the 1972 revised edition, "If you like to make and drink a real doozer of a rum drink that really is a rum drink, try this. It's from the Queen's Park Hotel in Trinidad."
QUEEN'S PARK SWIZZLE
Victor Bergeron, Bartender's Guide By Trader Vic, 1947
½ large lime
Mint leaves
3 oz. 86-proof Demerara rum
2 dashes Angostura bitters
½ oz. simple syrup
Squeeze lime and drop shells with mint leaves into 14-oz glass; fill with shaved ice; add rest of ingredients and swizzle until glass frosts. Garnish with sprigs of mint.
QUEEN'S PARK SWIZZLE
Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, 1972
½ lime
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash rock candy syrup
1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
1 ounce dark Jamaica rum
1 ounce 151-proof Demerara rum
Squeeze lime juice in 14-ounce chimney glass filled with shaved ice; save shell. Add remaining ingredients. Swizzle until uniform. Add spent lime shell, fresh mint, and a swizzle stick or stirrer
- More Citrusy cocktails
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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.
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Showing 8 comments for Queen's Park Swizzle.
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Just enough volatile funk from the S&C.
I couldn't even bring myself to think that Demerara syrup and Angostura bitters could enhance a mojito’s flavor this much.
Also, with a recipe like this, it seems easy to make at home or order at a bar.