A swizzle stick is a small stick used to hold fruit garnishes or stir drinks. The original swizzle sticks were created in the 18th century at a rum plantation in the West Indies. They were used to stir up Bermudian cocktails called Rum Swizzles and were made from the branch of a plant. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, stir sticks made of glass were created to shake out the bubbles from champagne, whose carbonation caused indigestion for some drinkers.