Tiki

Queen's Park Swizzle

Love a Mojito? Try this.

Ingredients

60mlDemerara Rum
22.5mlLime Juicefreshly squeezed
15mlRich Demerara Syrup
4-6 dashesOld Fashioned Bittersenough the get that dark layer on top
8-10 leavesMint

Make it well

Directions

1. This one is super easy and fun to make. It's built straight in the glass you'll be drinking from 2. Into your glass, add mint leaves and give them a little press with your bar spoon - this releases some oils 3. Next, in the glass, add your rum, lime juice and syrup 4. Put your bar spoon in the glass and fill 3/4 full with crushed ice 5. Now for the swizzle. Take the handle of the bar spoon between your hands and spin the spoon in the glass, like you're trying to make a fire with a wooden stick! The drink will slosh around and make the glass frosty 6. Do this for about 10-15 seconds 7. Remove your spoon and top up your glass with more crushed ice. Dash the bitters over the ice creating those beautiful layers and colours 8. Garnish with mint and throw in a straw

Taste

On the nose this one is minty and limey. Scorched caramel from the rum and Demerara syrup come through too. On tasting, this is deep and rich, sweet and limey all with a mint perfume. If you like a Mojito, you have to try this. An amazing drink from a beautiful country.

Origin

This incredible cocktail takes its name from the Queen's Park Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The hotel opened in 1893 and spent the next few decades as the place America's wealthy stayed when they came to the island, all ballrooms and verandas and very long lunches. The drink itself came later, some time in the 1920s, and it was Trader Vic who did most to spread it. He called it "the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today" in 1946, and printed the recipe in the first edition of his Bartender's Guide the year after. Sadly the Queen's Park Hotel closed its doors in 1996, but this incredible drink lives on.

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