Now that you’re finished preparing the food for your Fourth of July party, it’s time to relax and unwind with a festive cocktail! Try making the Independence Swizzle from The 12 Bottle Bar, by David Solmonson & Lesley Jacobs Solmonson.
Swizzles are their own class of drink, like a sour or a fizz, employing a healthy dose of spirit, plus lemon or lime juice, a sweetener, and usually bitters. The “swizzle” part of the name originates from the “swizzle stick,” originally a small, three-pronged branch of wood that was used to blend rum-based drinks on West Indian sugar plantations. Swizzles have a sort of mysterious aura about them, perhaps because of the swizzle stick itself and the fire-starting vigor with which the drink is assembled, combining to produce a voodoo-quality frost on the glass.
The Independence Sizzle is a slight variation of the Trader Vic staple Barbados Red Rum Swizzle (simply rum, bitters, sugar, and lime), employing honey in addition to the sugar. It’s a key addition. Even if you don’t have a swizzle stick, this is one heck of a drink—one that particularly highlights the magic of the aromatic bitters employed. Angostura bitters are traditional here, and they work exceptionally well.
Ingredients (makes 1 drink):
½ ounce strained, freshly squeezed lime juice
1½ teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 ounces amber rum
3 dashes aromatic bitters
Mixed berries, for garnish
Directions:
- Combine the lime juice, honey, and sugar in a Collins glass and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the rum and bitters. Swizzle with a swizzle stick or stir vigorously until a froth appears, at least 30 second. Garnish with any and all berries available.
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