Cold season is upon us. We already had a nasty cold, and it's making its way through our friends now too. Hot tea is our first line of defense, but it's been so warm still, and we've turned to other home-grown remedies. One of these is ginger ale. Ginger is spectacularly good for your throat and stomach; it puts nausea away immediately.
Here's our recipe for a syrup-based homemade ginger ale. You can combine the ginger syrup with sparkling water for ginger soda, or steep it with lemon juice and brewed tea for a hot drink. This isn't true ginger ale, however; that takes a little more kitchen science magic. We'll look at that next week.
Ginger Syrup Soda
1/2 pound fresh ginger root - about 1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon whole cloves (optional)
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Sparkling water
Lime wedges
Peel and chop the ginger root into thin matchsticks. Cover with the water in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a low boil and simmer until reduced by at least half - about 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and chill in the refrigerator.
When ready to use, strain through a sieve. Pour about 1/2 cup of syrup into a 12 ounce glass and top off with sparkling water. Add a lime and enjoy.
It's pretty hard to wrest the Vernor's from my hand, but being the ginger ale nut that I am, this sounds like fun!
view SassySally's profile
Thanks for a great recipe. I'm also a ginger nut, and as soon as I'm through the latest case of Reed's Extra Ginger Brew I'll try this!
view Bx's profile
To add extra gingeriness one can grind (mince?) about 1/3 of the boiled ginger pieces in a blender, strain the resulting thick syrup to get rid of the extra chunks/fibers and mix it with the rest of the syrup. Gives it a very pleasant ginger kick.
view bubble's profile
A local "asian fusion" restaurant here serves a mean ginger martini. I asked about how they made it. Turns out they put fresh ginger root through an industrial juicer and strain the juice. Super potent!
view Bx's profile
I'm famous for my ginger martinis, which is just ginger syrup (prepared similiarly as above), vodka and lemon juice.
view jon's profile
Is "pour 1/2 cup into 12 ounce glass" as typo? It seems like a lot of syrup, especially since you only use 2 cups of water and reduce by at least half.
Can't wait to try this and I like the idea of it being a cold remedy as well.
view SBDesign's profile
SBDesign - It does sound like a lot, but it's not that sweet, and 8 ounces of seltzer dilutes it more than you might think. Certainly adjust to taste, though...
Next time I make it I am going to grate all the ginger instead of cubing it, to make a stronger syrup.
view faith's profile
So, it is 40 minutes of cooking time, plus cooling time, plus the cost of 1.5lbs of ginger for two glasses of ginger ale?
Seems like a lot of effort and money for a beverage you can buy for $2, doesn't it?
view MattC's profile
@MattC, you can't buy ginger ale like this! It isn't the ginger pop from the stores; it's real spicy ginger syrup with soda. It's a treat...
view faith's profile
Does anyone know what the cooking of the stuff brings to the table? Last night we did our version of a similar recipe (from the booki "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It") and it required no cooking. We simply juiced 2 pounds of ginger, added a couple cups of water and sugar and a cup of fresh lime juice. We cut it with soda water. Yum!
view violet222's profile