Switchel, haymakers punch. 4 simple ingredients when
Up Mountain Switchel make it for you; local organic maple syrup, local organic apple cider vinegar, organic fresh ginger root, and Berkshire mountain water. This brand gives you a huge hit of ginger. Fantastic on its own or as a mixer. Trialed in the outdoor markets and fairs of Vermont, now slightly more polished by the same guys for the TRI-STATE area!
"Like maple sugaring, haying a hill farm in the pre-mechanized era was a
chancy, nerve-wracking job, in which Gramp's patience with me
frequently wore thin... after helping unload the wagon I could run to
the milk house cooling tank for the stone jug of switchel which my
grandmother made up each morning... the traditional northern New England
field hands' drink decocted from pure spring water with a touch of
vinegar..."
- Frank Mosher, Northern Borders
Laura Ingalls-Wilder drank it, as did Herman Melville. Unbeknownst to them it provided electrolytes, anti-inflammatories and more - a fenceposter gatorade. Switchel may have originated in the Caribbean (ginger and molasses give a clue) but transformed in New England with the substitution of maple syrup or sometimes honey.
Their supply chain is certified "NON GMO, ORGANIC, VEGAN, AND KOSHER, including the added lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and yerba mate in our additional switchel flavors." And "because of the naturally preservative components in Up Mountain Switchel, UMS does not require refrigerated trucking or warehousing. This LOWERS ENERGY-USE , AND WASTE, and overhead with all aspects of supply". Brilliant.
