The Gin Swizzle was our introduction to bitters. Bitters refer to a number of spirits flavoured with bitter herbs or roots and were often developed for medicinal purposes – especially for aiding digestion.
The most well-known bitters, in NorthWest America anyway, are Angostura bitters which are sold in regular grocery stores as well as liquor stores. Angostura bitters are interesting in that this beverage was developed by a German doctor, named for a town in Venezuela, and is solely manufactured by a company in Trinidad.
The Gin Swizzle is named for the stirring implement, the swizzle stick, used to mix the gin, sugar syrup, lime, and Angostura bitters. Apparently the swizzle stick was patented by a guy named Jay Sindler who really wanted a utensil other than his fingers, to fish out the olive from the bottom of his glass. Why just the other day, I had a similar problem involving a tortilla chip and some bean dip. In MacGyver-like fashion I used several toothpicks, held together with a stick of chewing gum, with a small scoop formed from one of my earrings on the end to scoop the chip out of the dip. While I did consider patenting this at the time, it has dawned on me since that “the spoon” has been around a long time. On the other hand, someone was able to get the spork patented (apparently there is even a splade), so why not?
Yes, I made the sugar syrup myself which is no big deal as I make a similar syrup to moisten the biscuit (pronounced “bisquee” for you cake novices) that is the base of my famous lemon curd jelly roll. I do not own a swizzle stick, however, so I used a small wire wisk.
Diagnosis: About halfway through the drink, Hubby proclaimed he had “gin lips.” I’m not sure what that means, but I did notice the hint of a smile playing on his glistening lips as he stated this, so I think it is a positive review.
Hey!!!