Swizzle stick

Tool

A swizzle stick is a long stick with a ring of prongs at one end, spun between the palms to chill and froth a drink over crushed ice.

Also called: bois lele

What swizzle stick means

You meet this tool in drinks built on crushed ice, often a tiki drink with rum. The pronged tip sinks into the ice, and spinning the stick between your palms churns the drink until the glass frosts. The same spin chills the drink fast.

The original stick is cut from a branch of Quararibea turbinata, a Caribbean tree called bois lele in the French-speaking islands. The ring of small branches at the tip is left on, and that ring forms the prongs.

Most beginners assume any plastic stirrer counts as a swizzle stick. The traditional version is a pronged branch, made to churn a drink over crushed ice, so a plain stirrer will not do the same job. The prongs are what make the difference.

How to use a swizzle stick

Swizzling needs crushed ice and a glass, since the stick churns the drink over the ice rather than in a tin.

1.Fill a glass with crushed ice, then pour the drink over it.
2.Sink the pronged end into the ice.
3.Spin the stick between your flat palms while you move it up and down.
4.Keep going until the outside of the glass frosts, then lift the stick out.

No swizzle stick? Without a swizzle stick, stir the drink over crushed ice with a bar spoon. It mixes well, but it cannot churn the ice like the prongs.

Swizzle stick compared

Bar spoonA bar spoon stirs in a mixing glass. A swizzle stick spins between the palms to chill and froth a drink over crushed ice.
Drink stirrerA plastic stirrer is for mixing only. The traditional stick has a ring of prongs at the tip that churns the drink.

Related terms

Ingredients

Put it to use in your next drink

Garçon explains every step as you make the drink.