recipe: fresh, unfiltered ginger ale

I love repurposing favorite drink bottles into flower vases. Hydrangeas are in full bloom right now, and this one has been quite happy to stand tall in its new home by my kitchen window sill. 

A closer look at the bottle reminds of our recent road trip stop in NYC. Fresh ginger ale was the perfect accompaniment for that fabulous curry chicken and rice dish I told you about. 

But as I slowly sipped and savored the contents, I also examined the bottle. And it seemed this special treat only contained a handful of ingredients, and several of those were for the special pomegranate hibiscus flavor. But the core were these: 

carbonated water, fresh ginger, and cane sugar. 

I had to try. The ingredient label on this sparkling Seltzer water is plainly "triple filtered carbonated water." Pure enough. Fresh ginger is readily available at the Tomato Vine or any Asian supermarket, and for a good price. I happened to have some on hand. And sugar, a staple in any sweet-tea-lovin' Southern home. 

Peel the ginger root and grate over a bowl. The first time I made this I used my Pampered Chef Deluxe Cheese Grater (the kind they use at Olive Garden). I think it squeezed a bit more juice out, but this worked just fine as well. I would recommend using the finer grate side.

Just squeeze the pulp to draw out some of those juices.

See, there's plenty of juice! Save everything in the bowl. We're going for that "unfiltered" label. And the tiny chunks of fresh ginger add a fabulously fun texture to the final product.

If you want to be really resourceful, that last little bit of ginger root pulp can be steeped in hot water and sweetened with honey. Good for what ails you. 

Stir sugar into the grated ginger and juices, dissolving. I used between 2/3 and 3/4 cup for 1 full liter.

  

If you're planning to drink your homemade ginger ale right away, you can add ice at this point. I think it helps in the stirring process. But we're not looking for a diluted taste, so if you're planning to drink it later, just skip the ice and refrigerate your final product.

Pour in the carbonated water.

Stir and serve.

It's really that simple. I wish you could come pull up a chair at my kitchen table and we could sip away while we chatted about what good things God's been doing in your heart and life recently. 

Feel free to leave a comment below. (All comments go to my email inbox for approval, so if you just want to contact me without your comment being published, just write that at the end of your message, and be sure to leave an email address for me to reply back to you.) 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time,

grace and peace, 

with love, 

michelle