I swear, I’m trying to get the posting cadence back up. But then I went and go sick last week. Not COVID, but still something that knocked me on my ass all week. As you can imagine, I was not exactly champing at the bit to mix a drink when all I wanted to do was sleep. Anyway, it’s good to take a week or two off sometimes and idk…reset your body a little, do other things, get over being sick, whatever really.
Of course, that has also made this week a bit more hectic, as is always the case when you are recovering from something. Everything gets pushed, you don’t get to it in time, and then you are caught catching up. Which is why I’m coming at you on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday as I try to catch up. But hey, that’s life, gotta just keep moving.
As I’m fond of remembering, it’s apparently summer elsewhere. Here (at least on the westside) we are embraced by the marine layer constantly, and honestly it’s not making me want bright beverages like this! I wish that weren’t the case, but you know, I especially cannot do anything about the weather. And I powered through it a year ago when I did 31 Days of Tiki in August. Still, I got all this stuff around, and id it’s not gonna be bright outside, at least I can brighten things up inside.
Continuing to tinker and play with form, I realize I have done y’all a disservice and I have not invented my own Swizzle yet. But what would be a Trader Jane swizzle?
Alright, stepping back, you do know what a swizzle is, right? You’ve had a Chartreuse Swizzle? I hope? If not, go work on that. Okay, now let’s get back here.
What are Swizzles? They are a traditional rum drink that’s…well, swizzled. This is a great chance to put your Collins glass to proper use. It’s a nice mix-in-glass and stir kind of affair, because you want that cool, cool frostiness that forms on the outside. Traditionally made with rum (so why do anything about that) and usually involving lime, pineapple, falernum, bitters, and such, it’s a fun, strong, tall drink that I usually sneak a little bit of 151 into because you only live once.
But what would my Swizzle be? Well, as I already alluded, gotta get out that beautiful bottle of Lemon Hart 151 because why not. But that’s too strong a rum to go solo. Gotta pair it with another fav since that’s how we roll in this kitchen, Ron del Barrilito 2 Star. Lime, of course. Falernum, sure? But where to put my twist?
As some of you who have had the fortune to share an office with me may know, one of my other talents that doesn’t come up in this Substack is baking. In particular, I make very good coffee cake. Chocolate Cinnamon Cayenne doesn’t really sound like it’ll go together in a drink, though, so let’s go with another one that I’m particularly fond of, peach cardamom. Cardamom’s a fun earthy flavor that shines with peaches, and one of the best ways to really get that flavor right is to coat the peaches in cardamom sugar and drain the reserves. You get a nice peachy, cardamom syrup out of that which can be pretty easily distilled into a nice homemade peach cardamom syrup. A nice addition to your coffee or tea if you aren’t looking to add it to alcoholic beverages too. Someday I’ll come up with a more scientific way of making this but for now, you get how I made it
Rounding that out, I’m doubling down on the peach and adding some peach bitters. Here’s where I ended up:
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz falernum
.5 oz peach cardamom syrup
1 oz Lemon Hart 151
1 oz Ron del Barrilito 2 Star
2 dashes peach bitters
Take all of that and measure it up in a Collins or a highball or some other tall, narrow glass. Top the glass about halfway with ice and…swizzle? I actually don’t have a swizzle stick so I just use a barspoon to stir it for a while. You should get some good dilution at this point and the glass will frost up a bit; go ahead and top it with a bit more ice too. Garnish with mint and a cardamom pod. Viola! you got yourself a 6th Avenue Swizzle
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every week or two (if we are being honest), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
And, as with any good drink, feel free to share (responsibly, of course)