Switchel: The Original Electrolyte Beverage

I first heard of switchel several years ago when I was researching fermenting beverages. Time slipped away and I never had a chance to make a batch until this summer but it did not disappoint. Also called haymaker's punch, switchel has a long history in America dating back to colonial days. Rumor has it that the first continental congress enjoyed it while forming the foundations of our government.

Traditionally switchel is made with ginger, water, apple cider vinegar and sweetened with honey, molasses or cane sugar. This combination was said to revive and keep a hardworking farm hand going all day long during the long summer days in the field.

When formulating a recipe for switchel it was hard to stick to our kombucha roots. I wanted a fermented beverage that was also tea based. I finally decided on a using a kombucha vinegar, essentially a very strong - long aged kombucha, in the place of the apple cider vinegar. Instead of water it made sense to use tea and I chose a lightly steeped oolong tea as not overpower the rest of the drink. I rounded this out with fresh juiced ginger and local honey to create a carbonated beverage that is sweet, tart and very refreshing.

This offering has been a long time coming and I really look forward to the initial feedback and how we can make it better. When Amy and I started this business we did not want to be constrained by a certain category or particular product, but instead wanted to grow organically through experience. This beverage is really the result of seven years of that experience.

We hope you like it.

Cheers!
Sean