Energy drinks, soda, cans of fizzy diet sugar – put them down. Throw them out. Cross them off your grocery list. What should you be drinking instead? Homemade switchel.

Jump to Recipe

Switchel is a sweet and tart mixture of honey, apple cider vinegar, ginger and lemon. It tastes like a cross between lemonade and kombucha. In other words: it’s an amazing blend of healthy (think weight loss, hydration, energy) and tasty.

Remember when you were a kid and your mom made a giant pitcher of lemonade from the frozen Minute Maid can? At 12 years old, there was nothing better on a hot summer day. Switchel is lemonade’s glow up.

Haymakers punch aka ginger water aka switchel, is not a trendy new thirst-quencher. It has been around for centuries with origins possibly in the Caribbean. Farmers used to take switchel with them into the fields to stay hydrated under the hot sun.

Why Drink Switchel?

Besides the fact that it’s delicious…

Honey and Your Health

 Honey, specifically raw, local honey, boasts some powerful, hidden health effects. Raw honey hasn’t been pasteurized, so the natural vitamins, probiotics and antioxidants it contains coming out of the hive are still intact. Local honey contains local pollen, which boosts your immune system, and lessens the symptoms you feel from allergies.

 The Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

There’s a reason apple cider vinegar shots are trending. Apple cider vinegar contains potassium, an electrically-charged mineral that naturally replenishes your body’s electrolytes. You lose electrolytes when you lose bodily fluids (i.e. when you sweat), which is why electrolyte enhanced sports drinks are so popular in the athletic and health world. Cider vinegar replenishes electrolytes without added calories or sugar, and it brings a myriad of other health benefits with it too.

Apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid, an acid scientifically shown to reduce the presence and affect of pathogens like E. Coli in your digestive system. ACV helps to contain and reduce free radicals in your body that cause damage to your tissues and can cause all sorts of health issues and diseases. ACV also helps to keep your digestive system healthy – enhancing gut health and regulating your blood sugar level, ultimately promoting weight loss and health.

How Ginger Benefits Your Body

Fresh ginger root is a powerful ingredient. Not only does it give switchel a unique taste of spice behind the sweetness and tartness, it provides your body with incredible benefits (ask any person interested in holistic and home-remedies – ginger is a prize). Ginger reduces inflammation and helps to reduce pain and soreness in aching muscles. Great news for anyone looking for a post-workout cocktail.

Ginger is used in teas and tinctures to help ease nausea, menstrual pain and indigestion, to lower cholesterol and to boost brain health, among other things.

Homemade Switchel – make it with me!

1 – Gather your ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced ginger
• 8 cup water
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 lemon, sliced

2 – Infuse ginger water

Peel and slice ginger. In a small sauce pan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Shut off heat and add ginger slices. Infuse at least 10 minutes.

3 – Combine ingredients

In a tall mason jar combine ginger water, 6 more cups of cold water, honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and slices. Secure lid and refrigerate overnight.

Tips and Notes on Homemade Switchel

Use the Best Ingredients You Can Find

With only four ingredients in the recipe, it’s important to use the highest-quality ingredients that you can find. The taste will benefit, but so will your health.

Look for unpasteurized, raw apple cider vinegar that still has the mother in it. I always have a bottle of Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar in the pantry, and it’s a brand I recommend. You’ll taste the difference between a high-quality vinegar and the $1.99 stuff at the grocery store.

To reap the benefits of honey, make sure to use local, raw honey. Is it more expensive? Yes, but raw, local honey holds a value for your body that makes it worth it. You’re only using a small amount, so if you buy one jar of honey it will last you a long time.

Make a Big Batch

This is a drink that you are going to want to make in double and even triple batches. We fly through it at my house, and I love being able to simply reach in and grab the mason jar whenever I want! My recommendation is to purchase 32 ounce mason jars and split the batch between them. #hipster

Don’t Go Overboard with the Honey

Spoonful for spoonful, honey is sweeter than table sugar. You don’t need a lot (another reason to buy high-quality). Start with a small amount in your batch, taste test, and add more only if you need to.

Switchel vs. Kombucha

Kombucha, a healthy, fermented tea drink that has major traction in the health and fitness world, is a favorite of mine. And while kombucha and switchel are both fantastic, healthy alternative drinks loaded with health and weight loss benefits, there are some differences!

Kombucha is fermented, switchel is not.

Kombucha is made by introducing a scoby (basically a floating blob of yeast and bacteria), to tea brewed with sugar. The yeast and bacteria need the sugar to ferment. That takes time.

Switchel on the other hand, takes a mere five minutes to mix and you’re ready to drink!

Kombucha usually contains a small amount of alcohol, switchel does not.

Kombucha is a fermented product. As the yeast and bacteria eat the sugar in the tea, alcohol is the by-product. Kombucha contains a small amount of alcohol. Most commercial kombuchas are labeled as non-alcoholic because the percentage of alcohol is so small (less than .5%).

Switchel is simply a combination of water, lemon, ginger, honey and apple cider vinegar. You don’t produce alcohol by mixing those ingredients in a mason jar (unless you are magical). That being said, a splash or run or whiskey can take this healthy drink to another level!