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All cocktails Queen's Park Swizzle

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Queen's Park Swizzle

Citrusy · Elevenses/afternoon · Long drinks and highballs

4.2 152 ratings

Ingredients

8 fresh Mint leaves
2 oz Light gold rum 1-3yo
3/4 oz Lime juice
1/2 oz Brown sugar syrup
2 dash Aromatic bitters

How to make

Serve in a collins glass

Prepare

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

Method

  1. 3 Gently MUDDLE mint in base of shaker (just to bruise).
  2. 4 Use a bar spoon to raise the bruised mint up and around the inside of the glass to coat with fragrant mint oils.
  3. 5 Add other ingredients.
  4. 6 Two-thirds fill glass with crushed ice and SWIZZLE.
  5. 7 Fill glass with more crushed ice and briefly CHURN.

Garnish

  1. 8 Garnish with lime wedge and mint sprigs bouquet.
  2. 9 Serve with a straw.

Flavour profile

History

This drink is drier, less minty, and more complex than the Mojito. Some prefer to finish this cocktail with a large amount of bitters drizzled over the crushed ice. However, Martin Cate states in his 2016 book Smuggler's Cove, "even though the bitters look pretty when floated on top, the drink tastes much better when they are swizzled with the rest of the ingredients." Two dashes mixed with the other ingredients are sufficient.

The Queen's Park Swizzle was developed at the Queen's Park Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The hotel's inauguration occurred on the 15th of January 1895, suggesting the cocktail likely emerged not long after this date. This opulent establishment served as a popular destination for Hollywood figures and affluent travelers, who helped popularize the story of its distinctive, tall, swizzled cocktail. The hotel was also renowned for another drink, the Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail. In his 1946 publication, Trader Vics Book of Food and Drink, Victor Bergeron characterized the Queen's Park Swizzle as "the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today." The subsequent year, he featured this swizzle again in his Bartender's Guide By Trader Vic, and in the 1972 revised edition, he further remarked, "If you like to make and drink a real doozer of a rum drink that really is a rum drink, try this. It's from the Queen's Park Hotel in Trinidad." QUEEN'S PARK SWIZZLE ½ large lime Mint leaves 3 oz. 86-proof Demerara rum 2 dashes Angostura bitters ½ oz. simple syrup Squeeze lime and drop shells with mint leaves into 14-oz glass; fill with shaved ice; add rest of ingredients and swizzle until glass frosts. Garnish with sprigs of mint. QUEEN'S PARK SWIZZLE ½ lime 1 dash Angostura bitters 1 dash rock candy syrup 1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum 1 ounce dark Jamaica rum 1 ounce 151-proof Demerara rum Squeeze lime juice in 14-ounce chimney glass filled with shaved ice; save shell. Add remaining ingredients. Swizzle until uniform. Add spent lime shell, fresh mint, and a swizzle stick or stirrer