Refreshing with a bit of spice from the fresh ginger, slightly sweet and with a punch of lime!
Ginger ale is one of those drinks that I will always remember from my childhood. As a kid, my parents used to give me ginger ale, because it was caffeine free and I had a lot of energy. At Christmastime, sometimes they would mix it with egg nog. I loved this combination because the egg nog was always a bit too thick for me and I loved the taste of the ginger to cut the richness of the egg nog. When I think of ginger ale, it just brings up a lot of good memories for me.
Flash forward a couple of decades to sitting on a train with my future husband (before we were married) and he pulled out two cans of ginger ale from his backpack. It instantly made me smile and to some it might seem like a small thing, but to me it was a really special.
Inspired by these lovely memories and a stack of fresh ginger I saw at the market one day, I tried my hand at making my own ginger ale. I learned that more ginger is better and that actually less sugar is better too. Here’s the recipe:
DIY Ginger Ale
- 1/4 cup of ginger (finely chopped or cut into rounds)
- 1.5 -2 cups water
- 2 TBSP sugar
- spritz of lime juice (per serving)
- soda water (per serving)
Preparation:
To make the ginger syrup (which is the base of the ginger ale): peel the ginger (or keep the peel on if you clean your ginger very well and if you have organic ginger) and cut into round slices or small pieces. Mash the ginger with the back of your knife to release more of the flavor and then add it to a small pot with the sugar and water. Simmer on low heat, stirring frequently and adding more water as needed. Allow it to cool and pop it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Transfer the ginger syrup to a heat safe glass bowl to chill.
To make the ginger ale: place a couple of tablespoons of the ginger syrup in a glass. Add a spritz of lime juice and then fill the glass with soda water. Stir (don’t shake, lol!)) and then enjoy!
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