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All cocktails Green Swizzle

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Green Swizzle

Classic/vintage · Hall of Fame and must know/try · Summer

4.2 78 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Light white rum
1/3 oz White overproof rum
1/6 oz Absinthe
5/6 oz Falernum liqueur
1/6 oz Green crème de menthe
1/2 oz Lime juice

How to make

Serve in a collins glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COLLINS GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of aromatic bitters, lime wedge and mint sprigs.

Method

  1. 3 POUR all ingredients into chilled glass.
  2. 4 Two-thirds FILL glass with crushed ice.
  3. 5 SWIZZLE and then fill the glass with more crushed ice.

Garnish

  1. 6 Garnish with 3 dashes of aromatic bitters over the drink's ice cap and finish with a lime wedge and mint sprigs bouquet.
  2. 7 Serve with a straw.

Flavour profile

27.3% alc./vol. · 1.8 standard drinks · 228 calories

History

Robust ingredients harmoniously combined in a tall, most refreshing swizzle, worthy of legend.

The Green Swizzle enjoyed popularity between the 1890s and 1930s, a period when the grand hotels of the Caribbean, such as the Queen's Park Hotel in Trinidad, were at their zenith. Its legendary status is partly attributed to its inclusion in P.G. Wodehouse's "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy." In the story, Bertie Wooster speaks highly of the drink after consuming several at the Panter's Bar of the West Indian stand during the 1924 British Empire Exposition held at Wembley, London. David Wondrich, in his 2015 book Imbibe (Updated and Revised), notes that "It is impossible to give a definitive recipe for the Green Swizzle." He further explains that variations exist using rum, whiskey, old tom gin, and genever as base spirits. While the recipe has many iterations, it is certain that the drink was originally colored green by dashes of absinthe bitters, unlike some modern versions that use green crème de menthe. However, the author finds that the minty liqueur complements the absinthe, which is used here as a substitute for wormwood bitters. Given the Green Swizzle's Caribbean origins, white rum is considered the most fitting base spirit, as aged rum might detract from the drink's pale green appearance.