Put down the soda and make a batch of this spicy ginger syrup. Add bubbles and you’re ready to go!
I used to be a heavy soda drinker.
Heavy.
Addiction heavy.
It was the caffeine.
And the bubbles.
My addiction was such that I’d drink soda first thing in the morning. I hardly, if ever drank water. I’m surprised my innards didn’t deteriorate.
I grew up in a household where soda was a treat. We drank water; seldom drank juice. My mama knew what she was doing. I don’t blame her. Now. But I blamed her then. It seemed so damn unfair. All my friends were doing it!
When I started making my own money – That is when my addiction went into full force. I developed a taste for it. For the bubbles in my mouth. For that sudden caffeinated surge. I was young. Soda was still made with sugar. It was amazing.
Then I got older. I had children and the weight didn’t come off as easy. Well… I was up to a 2 liter per day habit, so… yeah… I decided to cut soda out of my life. For myself. For my children. And it did it cold turkey. And like my mama – I don’t allow the kids to drink much soda.
Every once in a while I crave the bubbles. Every once in a while I break into a cold sweat at the sight of a condensation dripping glass of ice cold Pepsi.
Every once in a while…
And so I make my own soda syrups. And no, I haven’t figured out how to make Pepsi syrup. But I think I have the next best thing: Ginger syrup.
To make the most of the sweet spicy ginger flavor, I pureed ginger with water in a blender. Then I bring it to a boil in a pot with sugar. Once it’s brought to a boil I allow it to reduce slightly; until the pureed ginger is translucent. You are left with a super concentrated syrup, with a deeply beautiful hue and a whopping 5 cups to last you a couple of weeks.
This ginger syrup is spicy and sweet. It retains all its fresh ginger flavor – And the second you add bubbles to it – You’ll wonder why you bought commercial brands in the first place.
The possibilities for this syrup are many. Cocktails and blended sodas come to mind. Now you know… It’s about to get drink-a-licious up in here.
[purerecipe]
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds Fresh ginger
- 4 cups Water
- 4 1/2 cups Granulated sugar
Instructions
- Peel and chop ginger. After peeling and chopping you'll be left with roughly 1 1/2 pounds of peeled ginger. You know, more or less.
- Place the chopped ginger and water in a blender or a food processor. Blend or process until mostly smooth. Transfer the blended ginger into a large pot and add the sugar. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy.
- Remove from heat and allow it to come to room temperature. Strain the mixture, pressing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids and transfer the syrup to a large glass jar or bottle with a tightly fitting lid.
- Makes about 5 1/2 cups.
