Thirsty? Try Switchel!

Here in South Florida we have a lot of hot, humid days. One way to quench your thirst, is by grabbing one of the pricey sports drinks off the shelf of the supermarket.  I don't know the last time you checked the label on one of those things but, wow...there is a lot of junk in them. I am a huge supporter of just drinking water when working up a sweat, but sometimes you need a little change of pace. Enter the age old Switchel, a delicious drink made with water, pure cider vinegar, some ground ginger and half a cup of sweet molasses. Recipes for this drink can be found in The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) and in other "old-timey" books. Below I will teach you how you can make it at home for about the same price (sometimes less) than those sports drinks, and guess what? This stuff is actually good for you! 

To start, here's the ingredients:

• Pure Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (look for "with mother" on back label)
• Sweet Molasses
• Fresh Ginger
• Filtered Water

First, I start out by cutting a piece of ginger, maybe an inch long (I like Ginger so cut to your tastes) adding it to four cups of water that I have added to a Blendtec Blender. You don't need a blender for this recipe, just grate the ginger or use dry ginger (but raw is better for you!). One Teaspoon if your using the dry ginger. Blend until ginger is completely grated.

Now its time to add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix 1/2 cup Sweet Molasses, 1 cup Organic Apple Cider Vinegar and the ginger water together.
That's it! you're done. Just chill and serve on ice for a refreshing, healthy, and thirst quenching drink!

Total cost for this delicious nectar is about $1.10 a quart. Not much different than a Sports Drink price, you just have to grab a couple more items at the store. Hey, its good enough for the Whitehouse!