Real Ginger Drink (was: BBQ-ing, etc. when weather permits)

K

Kunmui

New member
On Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:13:56 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:


100% natural, fat free, no artificial colors or flavors. And it's
simple. And ginger has been under $1/pound lately.

1/3rd pound of ginger, grated. This is harder than it sounds. Every
inch or so you'll have to cut off the fibers with a sharp knife and
start with a clean cut. When done, throw it all into a pan with a
quart of water and bring to a boil.

While that is coming up to temp throw in a quarter cup of crushed
allspice. I whiz that in the coffee grinder for three four seconds
and throw that all into the pan.

In the meantime, juice a few lemons or 12 key limes.

When the ginger/allspice comes to boil, turn off heat, add 1 cup of
sugar, stir, and let steep for a few minutes. 10 minutes is fine. I
learned that steeping longer doesn't really give up much more flavor.

Find a empty plastic 64oz jug, funnel, strainer and cheesecloth. Fill
jug almost half full of cold water. Strain mixture into jug pressing
out as much juice as possible. Lift out cheesecloth and give it a
good wring into the funnel. The cold water in the jug keeps it from
melting from the hot liquid (BTDT). Add lemon or lime juice, add more
sugar to taste, and you're done.

Ginger has all sorts of health benefits (or at least has not been
proven to cause cancer yet). And I love the taste. I've added
cayenne in the past but gave up on that. The ginger with allspice is
plenty spicy. It can be made as strong as you want and watered down
when poured. It's almost as easy to make a little as it is to make a
concentrated syrup that makes a big batch.

-sw
 
On 4/17/2011 12:04 AM, Sqwertz wrote:

I wonder if you could simply chop ginger and give it a whir in a
blender? The final product is strained so it wouldn't seem to matter. I
also think you can even do it unpeeled since the skin doesn't have a
bitter or odd taste.
 
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:56:33 -0400, George wrote:


I don't peel it, but the blender for FP idea is a good one. I would
still simmer it for a minute to get everything out of those tough
fibers.

-sw
 
Steve wrote:


Vernor's used to be made with jalape?os, although I don't think that's the
case anymore. It's a shame, because that "bite" was the only thing which
made Vernor's worthwhile.

Bob
 
On 4/17/2011 1:49 PM, Sqwertz wrote:

I don't peel ginger, I scrape the skin off with the side of a teaspoon.
Try it. It works great.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.
 
On 17/04/2011 5:33 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:




I had herd about the trick several years ago and, for some reason, I
never bothered trying it until a coupe months ago. Holy Cow. I was
impressed. It works great. It is so much easier than peeling it with a
knife or a peeler. The skin comes right off the root no loss of ginger.
 
In article ,
Sqwertz wrote:


Any reason you couldn't just forget the 32 oz. of cold water, keep the
"syrup", and mix it with some fizz-water whenever you wanted? TJ has
lemon and lime flavored carbonated water at a good price.

Isaac
 
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:39:10 -0700, isw wrote:


1. I wanted to drink some right away.
2. When you mix it with carbonated water it tends to loose 60-75% of
it's fizz when you stir it, no matter how gently. I have tried it
several times using carbonated Calistoga water (available in the BA
but not in TX).

You can add a wine yeast and ferment it if you want slightly fizzy and
slightly alcoholic. I have done that in the past using a dozen 20oz
plastic bottles and using slightly more sugar. Using the plastic
bottles you can easily feel how mush pressure has built inside, then
refrigerate to allow the CO2 to dissolve back into the liquid.

Or you can release the pressure once or twice and let it build up
again for a drier, more alcohol drink.

-sw

-sw
 
Sqwertz wrote:

I melted my old Mr Beer pouring too-hot wort into it the same way.


This is the first recipe I've seen that only mentioned sugar at the end.
Have you tried making it with none and only add some when you use it? I
picture adding a miminal amount of artificial sugar substitute or seeing
if I like it straight.
 
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:21:46 +0000 (UTC), Doug Freyburger wrote:


It can be served pretty dry, but I've never tried it with no sugar at
all. I just premix in the sugar for ease of dispensing. My habit is
always to put ice in the cup first, so when I have to add sugar, the
ice makes the sugar harder (almost impossible) to dissolve.

-sw
 
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:31:32 -0700, Bob Terwilliger wrote:


Ginger alone adds quite a hot bite that finishes clean in a few
seconds. I would notice if something was made with capsaicin as the
bite would last much longer.

Like I mentioned, I used to add cayenne to this mixture but then the
bite lasts much longer. Unnecessary for a cool drink. I don't see
Vernors ever having any jalapeno in it .

-sw
 
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