Haymaker's Punch

If you were here on Heritage Day, you may have had the chance to visit the Log Cabin and try something called “Haymaker’s Punch” or “Switchel”. The punch is considered “nature’s Gatorade” as it is full of electrolytes. Pioneer farmers knew that drinking water didn’t properly hydrate so they needed to come up with a beverage that suited the long days of working in the fields, using what they would already have on hand. Quite often the switchel would be made in a large batch in the morning and kept in the ice house/box. When not kept cool, it allowed the ingredients to ferment which sometimes resulted in a bit more “fun” in the evening than anticipated. Switchel is surprisingly easy to make and has many health benefits alongside replenished electrolytes, due to the many wonderful properties of the various ingredients.

To make switchel, you simply need to mix together water, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger, and a sweetener of some kind (like molasses, honey, or maple syrup). The ratio at which you mix the ingredients together is up to the preferred tastes of the drinker, but we’ll provide a recommendation as a starting point;

1 gallon of water, 1 1/2 cups of molasses, 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of freshly ground ginger. Serve chilled or over ice for best experience!

You can let the ingredients sit for awhile to let the flavours mingle, or it can be consumed right away! Try experimenting with different ratios and sweeteners, but we learned that it should never “coat” your mouth and should be refreshing like lemonade. Leave us a comment below with the recipe you tried!

𝓟𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓜𝓲𝓪