Queens Park Swizzle
Muddle; Swizzle ∙ 4 min ∙ 19.6% ABV ∙
The Queens Park Swizzle is a Trinidadian rum swizzle of muddled mint, lime, and brown sugar syrup, churned over crushed ice to a frosty finish. Mint hits first, cooling and sharp, then lime tartness and a molasses-edged sweetness settle in as the crushed ice slowly melts the bitters' spice into every sip.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the glass, lightly muddle: Fresh mint leaves 8 pcs
- Add the remaining ingredients: Light gold rum 60 mlLime juice 20 mlBrown sugar syrup 15 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 2 dashes
- Fill the glass 2/3 full with crushed ice
- Swizzle with a bar spoon
- Fill the glass with more crushed ice and briefly churn
- Garnish with a lime wedge and a mint sprig
Tips
- Muddle the mint leaves lightly — just enough to release oil, since crushing them turns the drink grassy and bitter.
- Use a true swizzle stick or bar spoon spun between the palms — stirring instead won't aerate the crushed ice the same way.
- Some bartenders hold the Angostura back and dash it over the crushed ice at the end instead of building it in, for a visible red cap and a spiced first sniff.
History
The Queen's Park Swizzle takes its name from the Queen's Park Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, a grand colonial-era hotel built in 1893 that served the drink to well-heeled guests. It belongs to an older Caribbean tradition of swizzled drinks, made by twirling a forked stick between the palms in the glass, a technique associated with West Indies rum drinks likely dating back to the 19th century.
Popular accounts place the swizzle's creation at the hotel's bar in the 1920s, but the drink's actual paper trail is thinner and more precise: it is absent from the hotel's own souvenir recipe booklet of 1932, and it first appeared in print in Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink in 1946, which called it a world-famous drink from the Queen's Park Hotel. Since Victor Bergeron, known as Trader Vic, visited the hotel only once, in 1938, its creation is generally narrowed to the years between 1933 and 1938, and some cocktail historians suggest Bergeron himself may have devised the published recipe as a tribute to the swizzle he had there rather than transcribing a hotel original. The hotel itself was demolished in 1996.
FAQ
What is in a Queens Park Swizzle?
Light gold rum, fresh mint leaves, lime juice, brown sugar syrup, and Angostura aromatic bitters, swizzled over crushed ice and served in a Collins glass with a lime wedge and mint sprig.
What's in a swizzle cocktail?
A swizzle is a style of drink built directly in the glass over crushed ice and stirred rapidly with a swizzle stick or bar spoon until the glass frosts. The Queens Park Swizzle follows this method with light gold rum, mint, lime juice, and brown sugar syrup, churned twice with fresh crushed ice for a very cold, lightly diluted drink.
What is the best rum for a Queens Park Swizzle?
A light gold rum, as used in this recipe, gives body and a touch of molasses character without overwhelming the mint and lime. A fuller-bodied gold or aged rum can work too, but a very light white rum tends to leave the drink thin, while a heavy dark rum can mute the fresh mint and citrus.
