Why Ginger Tea?
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Making your own ginger tea is so easy and I want to show you how. As the Flu season is upon us and this year, by all accounts, it is a bad one, we all want to be prepared for battle at the first sign of a cold creeping up on us.
An even better idea is to fortify ourselves as much as possible to stay healthy. Prevention is always the best approach, right?
One of my favorite go-to's, when I feel a cold coming on, is ginger tea made with fresh ginger. If you do an internet search on health benefits of ginger countless articles come up and you can read titles from Five Proven Benefits of Ginger to 24 Proven Health Benefits of Ginger and everything in between.
I don't want to make any miracle claims here, but we know for a fact that ginger helps to reduce inflammation and more and more of medical professionals agree that inflammation is the root of much evil. And I am so bold as to call diseases evil.
So maybe the tea is helping to fight off a cold, or it is my belief that it does. I don't really care. All I know is that it usually works for me. And it is delicious!
How to Make Ginger Tea
To make ginger tea, you only need three ingredients.
- Fresh organic ginger.
- Filtered tap water or clean well water.
- Raw honey - local if at all possible.
Isn't fresh ginger a beautiful sight? All the gnarly shapes can make you think of all kinds of creatures - or is that just me?
Since Asian cooking has become more popular and at the same time the health benefits of ginger have become common knowledge, most grocery stores carry the fresh root now. If you can't find it locally, at least in the US, you can order it from Amazon. Sadly, they don't have fresh certified organic ginger available. Maybe, if enough people ask, they will start to carry it.
- Take between 50 and 100 g (2-4 oz). This is a big range, I know. I like to use a lot but it is not necessary.
- Wash and scrub the root very well. I only peel the ginger if I can't remove all the dirt.
- Slice as thinly as you can.
- Put in a stainless steel pot and add about 1 liter (1 quart) of filtered water.
- Boil/simmer for at least 10 minutes.
Freshly sliced ginger in a pot with water.
The tea is done when you see that the color has changed from clear to a yellow and it has a strong ginger taste.
Now, use a ladle to fill your first cup of tea.
Honey
Don't forget to add some honey or you are not going to like it too much! Ginger tea can be quite spicy. If you can, buy your honey from a local beekeeper you trust. Ask them how they treat a mite infestation in the hive. The answer will show you if you want to buy their honey.
I will not buy from a beekeeper who uses heavy chemicals to kill mites in the hive and feeds the bees sugar water in the winter. A sustainable beekeeper will leave enough honey in the hive for the bees to make it through the winter. And the chemical part is self-explanatory - I think.
A little more on honey. Untreated honey will crystallize with age like the picture shows. Once honey is heated, it will remain liquid. Also, many storebought kinds of honey are mixed with sugar syrup or worse, corn syrup and it doesn't always say it on the label.
Here is the link to a study which shows that many products labeled as honey are in fact not honey at all.
Even though adding sugar to the diet, especially when fighting a disease, is not a good idea, I feel pure honey is an exception. It's health-benefits and antibacterial properties have been well studied by now.
Again, an internet search will bring you many articles on the health benfits of honey, including that it is an antioxidant powerhouse and a natural cough syrup.
Make the Tea Last
Now, you are seeping your first cup of delicious ginger tea. But there is more in the pot. At this point, you have two options. You could strain all the tea into a storage container and set it aside for later use. Then you can either add the cooked ginger to your compost or pour fresh water on it and make another pot of tea. It will be weaker, but still good.
Or, leave the ginger in the post and keep steeping the tea. It will get much stronger, almost like an infusion. When you are ready for your next cup of tea, fill a cup one third or half full of the strong tea, add hot water and your tea is ready.
I store mine in the fridge in a mason jar and have instant ginger tea for the next day.
If you are interested in other home remedies I use to fight off a cold, you might enjoy this article
Have you made ginger tea before? How do you like it?
If you are going to make it for the first time, please let me know how you liked it and if it helped you.
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