Switchel Recipe-Great for Summer Hydration

Bag the sugary soda/soft drinks wrapped in plastic and try this concoction for summer hydration. Travel with a mason jar of it for your picnics and day trips. If you like, you can travel with your glass or metal straw.

It’s an old-fashioned recipe that is becoming popular again and for good reason. it restores electrolytes and can help ease pain and inflammation. Farmers and sailors of yesteryear drank it. ( of course they didn't have the selection of pre-bottled sugar-filled/ artificially-flavored drinks all ready to serve in plastic bottles that line the isles of the store today.)

I made a batch this week from a recipe I found online and it was much too spicy so altered the amount of cider vinegar and ginger for this recipe I am sharing. You might still need to alter it to your own liking. The good thing is that you can dilute it as much as you want. You can even make it as a concentrate by not adding the water until you plan to drink it.  I did this and left it on my counter to let the honey and ginger ferment with the naturally occurring yeast.

 Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (unfiltered with the mother) 

3 tablespoon honey (raw)

1 inch ginger root (peeled and finely minced)

½ Meyer lemon (peeled and sliced) or other lemon

3 ½ cups water (chilled)

Instructions

Place all ingredients, except water in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth.

Transfer to a quart-size mason jar and add water. Or leave as a concentrate and dilute before drinking.