You like mojitos, I like mojitos, we all like mojitos. But aren’t we all ready to move on to something same-same but different?
Created in Trinidad (hence the healthy dose of their trademark bitters), the Queen’s Park Swizzle traditionally called for full-bodied demerara rum from Guyana. The result was a cocktail so damn lip-smacking that in 1946 Trader Vic praised it as “the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today.” Ol’ Vic wasn’t entirely wrong. Mix one and decide for yourself.
- • 2 oz demerara rum, like El Dorado 5- or 8-year-old
- (use a heavier hand for historical accuracy)
- • ¾ oz fresh lime juice
- • ½ oz rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water
- use demerara sugar if possible)
- • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- • 8 mint leaves
Lightly muddle mint leaves in a tall glass, add remaining ingredients and pack with crushed ice. Swizzle* until outside of glass is frosty. Top with two more dashes of Angostura and more crushed ice. Garnish with bouquet of fresh mint. Oh, and you’ll need a straw for this one.
*Use a pronged branch from what’s commonly known as the Caribbean swizzlestick tree. Pick one up at BYOB (972 Queen West, byobto.com) or use a bar spoon. To swizzle, twist the stick or spoon rapidly between your palms, moving up and down the glass, until suitably frosty.
