Queen’s Park Swizzle

The Queen’s Park Hotel used to stand right at the heart of Port of Spain, Trinidad’s gritty but seductive capitol (hint: it’s all about the food—well, that and the shockingly beautiful women). The house drink was famous, for a time. But then folks stopped traveling by steamship and ran out of time for sipping tall rum things on the verandahs of charming old hotels in sleepy tropical ports. Pity, that.

3 ounces aged Trinidadian rum
Juice of 1/2 lime, plus squeezed-out shell
6 to 8 mint leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons rich simple syrup
3 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a large tumbler, fill with crushed ice, and stir vigorously until glass frosts. Add straw.

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