Queens Park Swizzle
Demerara rum, lime, demerara sugar, mint and Angostura, swizzled over crushed ice until the glass frosts. Trinidad's 1920s hotel drink and, Trader Vic said, the most delightful form of anaesthesia.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the mint leaves and the demerara syrup to a tall collins glass and press gently with a muddler.
Add the lime juice and the rum, then fill the glass with crushed ice.
Swizzle: spin a swizzle stick or bar spoon between your palms in the drink until the outside of the glass frosts.
Top with more crushed ice, dash the Angostura over the top so it bleeds down, and garnish with a mint sprig.
A thoughtful finish
- The bitters go on top, not in. Four dashes over the final ice gives the red layer that is the drink's signature, and it mixes as you drink.
- Demerara rum — from Guyana, dark and rich — is the recipe. A Jamaican rum makes a good drink with a different accent.
- Swizzle until the glass is white with frost. That is the sign of enough cold and dilution.
Common mistakes
- Shaking it and straining over cubes. It is a built, swizzled drink and needs the crushed ice.
- Stirring the bitters in, which loses the layer and makes the whole drink bitter.
- Over-muddling the mint.
A few good questions.
What is a swizzle?
A Caribbean drink built over crushed ice and churned with a forked stick until frosted. The method chills and dilutes fast and aerates the drink.
What is Demerara rum?
Rum from Guyana, named for the Demerara river, made on a mix of old wooden and metal stills and known for dark, rich, slightly smoky flavour.
Why so much Angostura?
Angostura is made in Trinidad, and the drink is Trinidad's. Four dashes on top is the house pour; they bleed into the drink gradually.
Is it a Mojito?
A cousin — rum, lime, sugar and mint — but swizzled over crushed ice with dark rum and heavy bitters, and no soda. It is drier and stronger.
Variations
- Rum Swizzle — Rum, lime, sugar and bitters, swizzled.
- Mojito — White rum, lime, mint, sugar and soda.
- Chartreuse Swizzle — Green Chartreuse, pineapple and lime, swizzled.
- Mint Julep — Bourbon, sugar and mint over crushed ice.
Where it comes from
c. 1920s · Port of Spain, Trinidad · Queen's Park Hotel
The Queen’s Park Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, served its house swizzle to the winter visitors of the 1920s — Demerara rum from neighbouring Guyana, lime, sugar, mint and a heavy hand of the island’s own Angostura bitters, churned over crushed ice with a swizzle stick cut from the quararibea tree. Trader Vic printed it in 1946 and called it ‘the most delightful form of anaesthesia given out today’, and the layered look — the bitters bleeding red through the top of the frosted glass — became the picture of a swizzle. The hotel closed in 1996. The drink is a tiki and craft standard and the best-documented of the Caribbean swizzles.
Sources
- Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink, 1946 (book)
- Jeff Berry, Potions of the Caribbean, 2014 (book)
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
Strength. About 1.52 US standard drinks at an estimated 19.7% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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