Swizzle Cocktails

23 drinks · Updated October 2026

Swizzles are defined chiefly by a mixing technique associated with the Caribbean. A swizzle stick is rotated between the palms in a glass filled with crushed ice, chilling and diluting the ingredients together. Rum, lime, sugar and bitters are common, but the method is not restricted to rum. The Queen's Park Swizzle combines rum, lime, sugar, mint and bitters. The Chartreuse Swizzle uses herbal liqueur with pineapple, lime and falernum. The Rum Swizzle name covers multiple recipes, so it describes a tradition rather than one universally fixed combination.

• Demerara Dry Float

  Don the Beachcomber (c. 1937), from Tim "Swanky" Glazner's Searching for Don the Beachcomber

  0.5 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup 1 oz Demerara rum 1 oz Gold rum 1 dash Angostura bitters 1 dash Orange bitters 0.5 oz Demerara rum (to float)

• Green Swizzle

  Classic (Caribbean, 1890s–1930s)

  1.5 oz White rum 2 tsp Jamaican rum (overproof white) 1 tsp Absinthe 0.75 oz Falernum 1 tsp White crème de menthe 0.5 oz Lime juice 3 dashes Angostura bitters (on top)

• Martinique Swizzle

  Trader Vic (Bartender's Guide, 1947)

  2 oz Dark rum 0.5 oz Lemon juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1 dash Absinthe

• Queen's Park Swizzle

  Queen's Park Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad (1920s)

  10 Mint leaves 0.75 oz Simple syrup 1 White sugar cube 2 oz White rum 1 oz Lime juice 4 dashes Peychaud's bitters 4 dashes Angostura bitters

• Rum Swizzle

  Classic (Georgetown Club, Guyana, early 1800s)

  2 oz Aged rum 0.75 oz Falernum 0.5 oz Lime juice 0.25 oz Lemon juice 0.5 oz Demerara syrup 1 dash Angostura bitters

• White Witch

  Victor Bergeron (printed in Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, 1972)

  1 oz Overproof white rum 0.5 oz Dry curaçao 0.5 oz White crème de cacao 0.5 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Soda water

• Beg Your Pardon Swizzle

  Alex Renshaw, Drumbar, Chicago (2014)

  0.75 oz Cachaça 0.75 oz Jalapeño-infused green Chartreuse 0.75 oz Pineapple juice 0.75 oz Lime juice 3 Cilantro sprigs

• It's Not Easy

  Abe Vucekovich, Choy, Nashville (2024)

  6 to 8 Mint leaves 1.5 oz Blanco tequila 0.75 oz Green tea syrup 0.75 oz Génépy 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.75 oz Pineapple juice

• 151 Swizzle

  Don the Beachcomber, Hollywood, from Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's Grog Log

  0.5 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup 6 drops Absinthe 1.5 oz 151-proof demerara rum 1 dash Angostura bitters 1 cup Crushed ice

• Voyager's Swizzle

  Jenna Rosenbloom, Josephine Estelle, New Orleans

  1 oz Panamanian white rum 1 oz Batavia arrack 0.5 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Demerara syrup 1 dash Angostura bitters

• Grenadya Swizzle

  Jason Calvanese, Kann, Portland, Oregon

  2 oz Dark rum 1 oz Passion fruit syrup 0.5 oz Lime juice 6 to 7 Mint leaves 5 to 6 dashes Angostura bitters

• Paradise Swizzle

  Jim Romdall, Rumba, Seattle

  2 oz White rum 1 oz Fresh honeydew juice 1 oz Coconut water 0.5 oz Lemon juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup 4 dashes Angostura bitters

• Pressgang Swizzle

  Jeremy Oertel, Dram, Brooklyn

  1 oz Old Tom gin 1 oz Jamaican rum 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.75 oz Grapefruit juice 0.5 oz Orgeat 0.25 oz Ginger syrup 6 dashes Angostura bitters 6 dashes Peychaud's bitters

• Jasper's Jamaican Swizzle

  Rumba, Seattle

  2 oz Aged rum 0.5 oz Allspice dram 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters

• Central Standard Swizzle

  Central Standard, Austin

  2 oz Aged rum 0.75 oz Lemon juice 0.75 oz Velvet falernum 5 Fresh mint leaves Angostura bitters (to top)

• East Indian Swizzle

  Giuseppe González, New York

  1.5 oz Cognac 1.5 oz Pineapple juice 0.5 oz Triple sec 2 dashes Angostura bitters

• Benton Park Swizzle

  Ted Kilgore, Taste by Niche, St. Louis

  2 oz Gold rum 1 oz Simple syrup 0.75 oz Lime juice 8 to 10 Fresh mint leaves 0.5 oz Fernet-Branca (to float)

• Scorpion Reef

  Marshall Davis, Gallo Pelón Mezcaleria, Raleigh (2017)

  1 oz Mezcal 1 oz Jamaican rum 1 oz Pineapple juice 0.75 oz Lemon juice 0.75 oz Orgeat 2 dashes Chocolate bitters 6 dashes Angostura bitters (float)

• French Impressions

  Alexander Grant, Death & Co, Washington, D.C. (2024)

  1.5 oz Cognac 0.5 oz Coffee amaro 0.5 oz Coconut water syrup 1 dash Mole bitters 1 dash Saline solution

• Jack Frost

  Devon Tarby, Cocktail Codex

  0.75 oz Blanco tequila 0.75 oz Pear brandy 0.75 oz Dry vermouth 1 tsp White crème de menthe 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Simple syrup

• Coffey Park Swizzle

  Alex Day, Death & Co, New York (2008)

  1 oz Haitian rum 1 oz Amontillado sherry 0.25 oz Velvet falernum 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.75 oz Ginger syrup (2:3) 3 dashes Angostura bitters

• Jasper's Rum Punch

  Jasper Le Franc, Bay Roc Hotel, Montego Bay (printed in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)

  1.5 oz Overproof Jamaican rum 1 oz Lime juice 0.75 oz Rich simple syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1 pinch Grated nutmeg

• Chartreuse Swizzle

  Marcovaldo Dionysos, San Francisco (late 1990s)

  1.5 oz Green Chartreuse 1 oz Pineapple juice 0.75 oz Lime juice 0.5 oz Falernum