Recipes
Sparkling Honey-Lemon Gingerade
Ginger-forward, lemony and spicy-sweet, gingerade feels like the perfect mid-September sipper. On a late summer day, you can dazzle it up with a little mint and club soda and it’s fizzy and refreshing — yet, with all that ginger, subtly warming.
We like to make gingerade on the weekends. It’s a thirst-quenching treat after a long, hill-crushing hike. It’s also a nice drink to serve at cocktails if you’ve got friends who don’t do alcohol. In fact, you might make a double batch and send some home with them — it’s so hard to find a good mocktail that isn’t childish or treacle-y sweet.
Our tip: In the cool of the evening, say when you’re reading books in bed, a cup of hot gingerade can be just the thing. We swap out the bubbles for a little still water — think ¾ gingerade to ¼ water — and warm it over medium heat. Like a gingery hot toddy, it soothes the nerves and calms the belly.
Servings: 8 to 10
Ingredients
6 oz ginger root, peeled, chopped
9 lemons
4 cups water
1 cup ice water
¾ cup honey
1 bunch fresh mint
2 cups club soda
Ice
Directions
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In a food processor, pulse the ginger until it's pulverized, and set it aside.
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Peel the lemons in strips, making sure to avoid the white pith. Reserve the peels, and juice the lemons — you should end up with about 1 cup of juice.
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In a medium saucepan, bring the 4 cups of water to a simmer, add the pulverized ginger and lemon peels, and then remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes, covered.
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Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl. Add the ice water, lemon juice, and honey and stir to combine. Put the gingerade in the refrigerator to chill for 45 minutes.
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Once the gingerade is cold, pass it through a fine mesh strainer to remove the ginger and lemon peels, which you can discard.
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To make one sparkling honey-lemon gingerade: Smack 2 sprigs of mint between your hands, and drop them into a rocks glass.
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Fill the glass halfway with ice and about ¾ full of gingerade, and then top it off with club soda.
Recipe adapted from: Salt & Wind