One of the great pleasures in studying and writing about the American frontier was trying the many recipes I found in my research and tested them on my family. Switchel was of those recipes that at the first glance my family said "No way. Drink vinegar.. ugh." Since we couldn't find unsulfured molasses we substituted maple syrup which was a commonly available during colonial times. With few little tweaks here and there we created a refreshing drink that we all enjoyed especially during the summer. We also tried it on a few quests who found it a an enjoyable beverage, especially when we called it a cider and casually forgot to mention the vinegar part.
Additions to the recipe are in the video.