barbadian gin punch swizzle

2 oz Genever (Bols)
2 oz Coconut Water
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Rich Demerara Syrup (3/4 oz 1:1)
2 dash Angostura Bitters, optional (included)

Build in a tall glass, fill with crushed ice, swizzle to mix and chill, and garnish with a lime wheel.

Two Tuesdays ago, I continued on with my coconut water recipes with a gem found in Imbibe Magazine. Drink historian David Wondrich wrote about some of the various punches found throughout the Caribbean in the 17th-19th centuries; while most of them were rum-based libations due to the abundance of the local spirit, he discovered that the Dutch utilized their home liquor of Genever through an 1876 travel book West India Pickles by William Talboys. Talboys was served a bowl of punch using Holland gin at a local planter's house in Barbados, and the spirit had been brought over by Dutch traders that were doing business throughout the Caribbean. Wondrich provided a recipe for this punch, but I was more taken by his single serving-sized Swizzle incorporating all of the drink elements.
The Barbadian Gin Punch Swizzle donated lime aromas over malt and coconut water notes to the nose. Next, lime and salinity from the coconut water on the sip led into malty Genever, wormwood, and clove flavors on the swallow.