Monday Mission: Make a Ginger Drink

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to try a homemade drink with fresh ginger.

It’s part of the Ginger Challenge Series for February, and I think it’s the one I personally had the most fun with.

Last week we talked about using fresh ginger in recipes, like my slow cooker ginger beef, and I will share a whole ton of ideas soon in a ginger recipe roundup. Next week we’ll look into some of the ways you can use ginger more therapeutically in home remedies to really take advantage of the many health benefits of ginger.

It turns out beverages bridge the gap between culinary and medicinal/healing purposes quite well.

Trying Ginger Tea

When I first tried ginger tea, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. You see, I’ve never been a tea person. When I go to a brunch or visit a friend’s house and am asked if I’d like a hot beverage, I’m boring and practically anti-social because I drink neither coffee nor tea. It can really make me stand out (more than usual I might add)!

In the past year or two, I’m finding a few types of tea that I really do enjoy, and they’re mostly not your typical “herbal” tea – there’s a cinnamon tea that I really like and another made with dried strawberries that hits the spot for me.

So ginger was on the fence in my expectations. When I cut into fresh ginger and inhale the amazing scent, it’s like aromatherapy – I could fall into that smell and never come out.

So I figured that was probably a good sign, and I assumed ginger wouldn’t have that bitterness from the “herbal” taste, but it was still going to be “tea,” so I was skeptical.

It turns out ginger tea is spicy! It’s super simple to make, smells absolutely amazing while steeping, and I really enjoy it. How to describe it? It tastes like ginger smells, plain and simple – and then you get the kick, which is directly proportionate to the amount of ginger used and the time steeped. There’s no “tea” flavor at all, if you’re not really a tea person.

How to make ginger tea

Ginger Drink Options from Around the Web

Some folks say they just put a few slices of fresh ginger in water to infuse it with a bit of flavor, which is a super simple starter option. If you’re ready for more, check out these recipes from some of my colleagues:

Honey Ginger Lemonade from Gourmande in the Kitchen

Persimmon Ginger Smoothie from JarOhoney (use honey instead of agave)

Spiced Pumpkin Chai Tea from Recipes to Nourish

Orange Hibiscus ginger Kombucha
from Lydia at Divine Health from the Inside Out

Be sure to check out Lydia’s guest post from last week: 5 Reasons You Might Have Stomach Pain After Eating (and other not-so-fun bowel symptoms you don’t want to talk about)

Green Juice from Live Simply

Cranberry Ginger Smoothie from A Happy Health Nut

How to ferment a ginger bug by Just So (use in drinks, gelatin, and more)

A Cold Drink: Ginger Ale for all Seasons

I’m very excited to host Shaina of Food for my Family this week with a gorgeous (and fun!) recipe for homemade ginger ale. You’re going to be inspired! If you don’t have ginger on hand already for this challenge, I foresee a produce impulse buy in your near future.

Have you made a homemade ginger drink before? What’s your favorite?

Need More Baby Steps?

Here at Kitchen Stewardship, we’ve always been all about the baby steps. But if you’re just starting your real food and natural living journey, sifting through all that we’ve shared here over the years can be totally overwhelming.

That’s why we took the best 10 rookie “Monday Missions” that used to post once a week and got them all spruced up to send to your inbox – once a week on Mondays, so you can learn to be a kitchen steward one baby step at a time, in a doable sequence.

Yes! One Change a Week please!

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