Recipe for Switchel, a quick-to-make fermented beverage that is traditionally cultured with water, honey, vinegar, and ginger. It quenches thirst during hot weather like nothing else.
Switchel, also called Haymakers Punch, is a refreshing drink that originated in the Caribbean. It is a tasty, slightly effervescent, sweetened beverage made of water mixed with vinegar.
Sweetened with raw honey, molasses, stevia, brown sugar, or maple syrup depending on the locality, it is also typically flavored with ginger.
My favorite recipe below uses raw honey as the healthiest, most probiotic, and enzyme-rich version.
Switchel History
Switchel made its way from the islands to the American colonies becoming a popular summertime drink by the late 1600s.
Gradually over the next 200 years, “switchy” became the traditional drink of choice to serve to thirsty farmers harvesting hay. This is how it came to be called Haymakers Punch, another popular name.
It is the perfect beverage to make if you are out of kombucha or Jun tea and need a beneficial probiotic beverage that can be made quickly.
By comparison, homemade kombucha and Jun tea both take about a week.
Switchel can be compared to ginger beer or homemade ginger ale, which uses lemon or lime juice and a starter culture. Switchel uses (raw) vinegar instead of juice and requires no starter making it super simple for first-time home brewers.
You most likely have all the ingredients you need to whip up a batch of Switchel right now in your pantry!
You won’t believe how thirst-quenching switchel is! No wonder it was the preferred beverage for centuries of those working hard in the summertime heat on a farm.
“Switchy” for Digestion
A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (ACV) in a glass of water is an old-time reflux remedy for those suffering from GERD. It works better than antacids, which have the downside of increased risk for heart attacks and possibly cancer as well over the long-term. (1)(2)
If you’ve been using the ACV plus water trick to manage GERD symptoms, you simply must try Switchel! Drinking this traditional cultured beverage provides all the benefits of ACV and water but tastes a whole lot better!
In fact, Haymaker’s Punch is so tasty that almost everyone will love it whether they suffer from acid reflux or not.
Just note that while this beverage works well as an acid reflux remedy, ultimately you have to get to the source of the problem.
This article on making your own natural reflux remedy includes a detailed discussion of this issue.
ACV Brands to Use
Be sure that the apple cider vinegar you use to make switchel is authentic. This means it must be raw, undiluted, unfiltered, proper acidity, and with the mother. Packaging in glass only is critical as well.
After literally scouring the market, I recommend ONLY these ACV brands if you choose to buy rather than make your own ACV. Hint: Braggs is NOT one of them.
ACV is like kombucha. It is acidic and has the potential to leach toxins from a plastic container. To make sure you don’t get a dose of hormone-disrupting chemicals with your glass of switchel, stick to ACV packaged in glass only!
Preparation Tips
This recipe below makes about a half gallon.
You can blend, chill and enjoy it within minutes! Serve over ice or at room temperature as you prefer.
Switchel is a great stand-in when you need a fast-to-prepare fermented beverage.
By comparison, homemade root beer, probiotic lemonade, ginger ale, and orangina take a couple of days to culture plus another 48 hours or so to carbonate if you wish to go the bottling route.
How to Make Switchel
Traditional recipe for Switchel, a quick-to-make fermented beverage cultured with honey, ACV and water that quenches thirst like nothing else.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts filtered water
- 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 tsp ground ginger or 2.5 Tbsp freshly grated
- 1 tsp ground turmeric optional
- 1 pinch cardamom optional
Instructions
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Place all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix very well. You can add ice and drink the switchel immediately at this point if you like.
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Optional step: If you prefer a more carbonated beverage, then take this additional step: slowly pour mixture into large glass bottles with wire and ball stoppers (I like these) and fasten the lids. Alternatively, you can mix up the switchel with cold, sparkling mineral water (I prefer this brand) and get the bubbly right away without bottling.
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If you are fermenting in bottles instead of drinking immediately, leave the sealed bottles on the counter for at least 2-3 days (up to a week or two is fine also if your kitchen is very cool) to add carbonation and then refrigerate. Open in the sink slowly and only when the beverage is very cold to prevent explosions or the switchel foaming out of the bottle and making a mess.
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If you used fresh ginger, sieve the switchel as you pour it from the bottle into your glass.
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Sip and enjoy either alone or with ice. Refrigerate unused portions in glass containers only.
Buying Haymaker’s Punch?
Unfortunately, the vendor I used to recommend for Haymaker’s Punch who used ACV, maple syrup, and ginger appears to no longer be in business. 🙁
The closest thing to homemade that you can buy is the line of apple cider vinegar drinks from Braggs. However, I no longer recommend Braggs since the company was acquired. The product is now considerably cheapened, and it may even be toxic at this point.
It appears that at the present time, making your own Switchel is the best and perhaps only way to go.
I am confused as to how this drink can contain probiotics? According to “Livestrong” Apples cider vinegar does not contain any probiotics. So what’s up with that
Raw apple cider vinegar most definitely contains probiotics as does raw honey. Most ACV on the market is pasteurized and so does not contain probiotics.
Raw ACV can be used as kombucha starter in a pinch … due to the fact that it does contain beneficial microbes to get the fermentation process rolling.
Just one minor nitpick. Not sure if you’re aware, but San Pelligrino is, sadly, a Nestle product. And we all know why those are ethically unfavorable. I didn’t even know this till I looked at the label carefully.
There are brands of sparkling mineral water, like Grohlstein (sp?) that are not Nestle products.
I did not know this! Thank you for sharing. I will find another brand to recommend.
There is a brand that I use & its raw organic, the makers is called RISE you can contact them at risekombucha.com or crudesence Kombucha Inc. 4795 boulevard couture, Saint-leonard,QC,H1R-3X1 Canada I am not sure if the Canadian Kombucha is of value to you but it is an excellent product & I buy it when ever I can afford it
Is there a way to print or save this recipe without all the ads which makes it 20 pp? Thank you!
Thanks for mentioning Up Mountain Switchel Sarah. For a better price you can send people directly to our website: DrinkSwitchel.com
So if you don’t need fiz, you just mix up the ingredients and place in the refrigerator?
Yes, it’s that simple.
Wow sounds good, Sarah. Switchel is a refreshing drink along with herbal teas that use berries, citrus, pomegranate, and apple cider vinegar.
I’d really like to Pin this. Are you on Pinterest? Thanks for the lovely recipe.
Do you think I could use some of my ginger bug in place of fresh grated ginger, or would that be too many different bacteria?
This sounds really tasty (a la kevita…). I’m wondering why honey CAN’T be used for kombucha, which is also brewed, but CAN be used for switchel. Is it because switchel has ACV? Thanks again, Sarah, for a great recipe.
Using honey instead of sugar for kombucha is simply Jun tea 🙂
Jun is a totally different culture. Kombucha made with honey is kombucha.
A Jun culture is really not that different at all from a Kombucha SCOBY. I’ve made Jun tea with a kombucha culture several times. In fact, Jun is called Kombucha champagne.
A half cup of honey seems like a lot of sugar. If you let it ferment for three days, does the sugar content decrease a bit? Thanks
A half cup of raw honey for 1/2 gallon of switchel is 1 TBL per cup. This is 3 tsp sugar or 12 grams. I think it is quite reasonable. Obviously, don’t overdo! You are welcome to reduce the honey though and use some stevia instead. I have not tried this myself though.
It’s the fermentation process that gives you the fizz. You don’t have to worry about the sugar; it gets converted to alcohol during fermentation.