Swizzling is mixing a drink in its own glass full of crushed ice by spinning a swizzle stick between the palms until the glass frosts over. It is the Caribbean's answer to the stir, built for rum, lime and heat, and it is the technique behind the Queen's Park Swizzle, the Bermuda Rum Swizzle and the modern Chartreuse Swizzle.

What is swizzling?

A swizzle stick is a slender rod with a spray of short prongs at the end — traditionally a cut branch of the Quararibea turbinata tree of the Lesser Antilles, now also made in metal and plastic. Plunged into a tall glass of crushed ice and liquid and spun fast between the palms, the prongs churn the ice through the drink, which chills it in seconds, dilutes it by the right amount and aerates it slightly, and the rapid chill frosts the outside of the glass — the visual sign that it is done. The drink is never strained; it stays on the ice it was swizzled with, usually with more crushed ice mounded on top and a float of bitters or a bouquet of mint. Swizzling was recorded in the West Indies in the 1700s, before ice, as a way to froth drinks; with ice it became the islands' method for sours and punches, and the tiki revival and the craft bar have adopted it for any drink built over crushed ice.

How to do it

Build the drink in a tall, sturdy glass — a Collins or a highball — with any mint pressed first, then the spirit, citrus and syrup. Fill the glass to the top with crushed ice. Push the swizzle stick to the bottom of the glass, hold its handle between your flat palms, and rub your hands back and forth quickly so the stick spins, moving it up and down through the ice as you go. Fifteen to twenty seconds is usually enough; stop when a thick frost forms on the outside of the glass. Top up with more crushed ice to a mound above the rim, float the bitters if the recipe has them (four to six dashes of Angostura on a Queen's Park Swizzle), garnish with a mint bouquet and serve with a straw. No swizzle stick? A bar spoon spun between the palms does most of the job.

Common mistakes

Cubed ice, which cannot be swizzled and never frosts the glass; crushed or pellet ice only. Swizzling too briefly, which leaves the bottom of the drink warm and strong and the top watery. Stirring with the stick as if it were a spoon rather than spinning it; the spin is the technique. A thin glass, which the frost and the pressure can crack. Shaking the drink instead, which loses the frost, the layering and the mound of ice that make a swizzle a swizzle. And muddling the mint hard before swizzling; press it lightly, since the ice will do the rest.

Drinks that use it

The Queen's Park Swizzle, the Rum Swizzle, the Bermuda Rum Swizzle and the Chartreuse Swizzle are the swizzled drinks here; the Mint Julep and the Mojito are its crushed-ice cousins made by other means. Every swizzled drink on the site is listed below.

Questions

Where do I get a swizzle stick? Bar-supply shops sell wooden and metal ones; a bar spoon spun between the palms is the substitute.

How do I make crushed ice? A Lewis bag and mallet, a tea towel and rolling pin, or a blender pulsed briefly.

How long do I swizzle? Until the glass frosts, fifteen to twenty seconds.

Why float bitters on top? For aroma and the look; the red layer bleeds down as you drink.