Switchel, a refreshing electrolyte-laden drink, originated in the West Indies in the 1600s and became popular among American farmers. Its ingredients, which include apple cider vinegar, water, molasses, and ginger, are easy on the stomach and it was touted as a healthy tonic by doctor DC Jarvis. The drink’s origins are disputed, but it is still enjoyed by some today.
Switchel was perhaps the “original” Gatorade: It was an electrolyte-laden refreshing drink, originating in the 1600s in the West Indies. It has many different recipes and became popular in early America, especially among farmers. Over time, the origins of this specific drink have been lost. It has been attributed to the Amish, who still prepare it, but its use was probably widespread in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries in farming communities across the United States and its territories.
There are disagreements about the ingredients of Switchel, which may also be called hay punch or switzel. Most likely, the early drink was a combination of apple cider vinegar, water, molasses, and possibly ginger for flavouring. Laura Ingalls Wilder calls it ginger water in the book The Long Winter, and refers to how it quenched thirst without upsetting the stomach after hot hay work. Other recipes for switchel use honey instead of molasses, suggesting that the drink may not be a new world invention, but instead may have existed earlier in Europe, before sugar, and molasses being available from sugar by-products. Another common variation is to add lemon juice to the drink.
There are many who still remember drinking switchel while working on farms, especially during the summer months. Some writers also reference the Amish, who may serve the drink hot during the winter months. Most are more accustomed to the cold version and cite the sharp bite of vinegar and molasses paired with ginger as particularly refreshing when doing work in the hot sun. Gradually the drink was replaced with the various sports drinks available today, but some people still brew and prefer switchel.
The main advantage of switchel, aside from the taste – which many cite as unusual but delicious – is that the ingredients are easy on the stomach. You could drink more switchel than water without getting sick. This made it easier to avoid dehydration. Even famed doctor DC Jarvis, who made a honeyed version called honegar, touted the drink as healthy. Jarvis was particularly famous for his writings on homeopathy and his 1958 book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Country’s Guide to Good Health remained a bestseller for several years.
Jarvis claimed that vinegar had particular health benefits, which are now disputed by modern doctors. However, his advocacy of switchel or honegar has kept the drink alive and familiar to many. He claimed that the drink was particularly healthy and recommended it as a tonic to cure many ailments.
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