Ginger syrup and spicy drinks

I think I’m finally ready to flipflop on ginger. I used to hate it, but I think that’s because I associated it with:

• That gross pink pickled stuff they try to foist on you with your sushi
• Being sick

The first is self-explanatory really. It’s just the worst, isn’t it? Why ruin delicious sushi with this degraded form of a truly amazing plant? Go ahead, get absorbed in its Wikipedia page, I’ll wait.

Ok, you’re back. Awesome, right? Ginger is so good for you! I’ve embraced it wholeheartedly (as long as I can ignore the fact that gari is a thing).

The second reason I used to avoid it is that my mom would always boil ginger and ginseng together and make me drink it when I got sick. Maybe my juvenile palate just wasn’t ready for the two of them together in a strong hot drink. Now, I will use a little ginger syrup in hot water with plenty of lemon juice as a kind of winter tonic when I’m under the weather or starting to feel icky. The snappy ginger reminds me less of illness and more of the hours Mom's get-well tea spent boiling away on the stove just for me.

A great way to add more ginger to your diet is to make a honey ginger syrup that you can add to your drinks. You can add it to seltzer, tonic water, hot water, lemonade, green tea (decaf if you’re sick), chamomile tea, whiskey (a toddy can be restorative too!). Add a few squeezes of lemon juice and it’s basically perfect.

Beautiful Meyer lemon slices, one of my favorite mugs, and the dregs of my last batch of ginger syrup.

I’ve made ginger syrup using David Lebovitz’s recipe. It's really great, but it requires 2 cups of white refined sugar and if you want to make a syrup that is more health-conscious, then maybe try mine, which uses only honey.

First, you’ll need eight ounces of ginger. You’ll be boiling it with its skin still attached, so be sure to scrub the ginger well to remove the dirt. I tried peeling the skin this time, as you’ll see in the picture below, and it seemed like it lost a bit of its earthiness. So, for you, dear reader, I would recommend just leaving the skin on.

Look at my scale, y'all!

Chop the ginger into coin-sized pieces. Toss ginger in a pot. Add the honey and water. Stir it around so everything’s nicely mixed.

The pot, before I mixed it all together.

Turn the burner on your stove to high heat and get that pot to boilin’.

Once the water is boiling, turn the heat to medium-low and let it reduce for about an hour, checking every 15 minutes or so to give it a stir and make sure it’s not reducing too fast or burning. When you taste it and you’ve got a nice spicy syrup (which won’t be as thick as maple syrup, so don’t worry if yours is a less like a syrup and more like a concentrated liquid) take the pot off the stove and strain the ginger syrup through a fine mesh strainer (or if you’re fancy, a cheesecloth).

I used neither this time, because my fine mesh strainer just bit the dust in an unfortunate culinary incident and I haven’t yet bought myself a cheesecloth. Hey, do as I say, not as I do.

(If you want to go the extra mile, blitz the leftover bits of ginger in your food processor and see if you can squeeze some extra juice out of that. Extra strong syrup!)

There, you have your syrup, which will be spicy, sweet, and strong! The next part is sorta “Choose Your Own Adventure-y” because now you have to decide what kind of drink you want to make. Decisions, decisions. Life is tough, huh?

A refreshing spritzer?

Do not add Cupcake Cab to this drink. It might be really good
with champagne, Prosecco, or white wine though.

Or a steaming cuppa?

Aaaaah, drink it up and feel instantly better about life. At least, if you're me you will.

You really can’t go wrong either way. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of fresh lemons to go around! I found some Meyer lemons at TJ's recently and they’re just so fragrant.

Glorious, sunshiny Meyer lemon wedges.

Cheers!

Snappy Ginger Syrup  

Ingredients

8 oz                 fresh ginger, chopped into coin-sized pieces

4 cups             water

½ to ¾ cup      honey (lean toward ¾ cup if you want it sweeter)

Scrub ginger, making sure to remove the dirt from the skin. Chop into coin-sized pieces.

Add chopped ginger, honey, and water to a pot, stirring them to combine.

Turn burner to high and heat mixture to a boil, and then turn the burner to medium-low.  Let the syrup reduce for about an hour, checking every 15 minutes or so to give it a stir and make sure it’s not reducing too fast or burning.

After an hour, strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in the fridge for about a week.

Serving Suggestions

(The measurements below are just suggestions according to my personal preference. Just accept the fact that you’ll have to play around with it some.)

Snappy Ginger Honey Lemon Spritzer

2-3 tbsp          ginger syrup

10-12 oz          seltzer or tonic water

2 tbsp              lemon juice, freshly squeezed

                        ice cubes

                        additional lemon wedges (optional)

Hot Ginger Cuppa

1-2 tbsp          ginger syrup

6 oz                 boiling water, green tea, chamomile tea, or warmed whiskey

1-2 tbsp          lemon juice, freshly squeezed

                        additional lemon wedges