An Onion Exposed: Homemade Ginger Ale

I have been seeing a lot of advertisements recently for appliances to make your own soda at home. It got me thinking about the stories I remember Dad telling us when we were little. The ones about how they never bought soda at the store. If they wanted root beer, they would make it themselves. Oh, the good ol' days, huh? Everything homemade without all the preservatives, aspartame, MSG, and whatever else they can mix in there without making you keel over on the spot.

After reminiscing about my dad's root beer story, it jerked my memory back to a recipe I had seen for homemade ginger ale. Of course, I had seen it on Pinterest (what would I do without Pinterest!?!?!?!?) and remembered that I had pinned it to my "Thirsty, Thirsty" board.

I pulled it up, made sure I had all my ingredients (which I had on hand, thank goodness!), and whipped up some fresh ginger ale last night. OH. MY. GOODNESS. Pretty sure I just found my new summer beverage! This recipe only has a few ingredients, is easy to do, and tastes amazing!

I like ginger ale to begin with, but, boy, does this take it up a notch (or 12!). Think about what you could do with it, too. Customize it and create a fresh raspberry ginger ale, or mix it with a little vodka for adults! I think next time I make it, I'm going to try less sugar and more lime to see if it's just as good. Even if it's not, I'll take the calories along with this recipe. It's totally worth it. :)

Recipe adapted from Berlins Whimsy

Ingredients

Ginger Syrup:

approx. 2 c. fresh ginger root pieces, roughly chopped

2 c. water

1 1/2 c. sugar

Ginger Ale Beverage:

3 1/2 Tbsp ginger syrup

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

5 oz. club soda

lime wedge for garnishing, optional

Directions

Clean and cut your ginger into chunks. (It's not necessary to peel ginger.)

Dump ginger pieces into medium saucepan.

Add water.

Heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Turn off heat (leave pan on the burner), cover, and let steep (rest) for 1 hour.

Take cover off and discard ginger pieces. Strain, if necessary.

Add sugar and turn heat to medium.

Watch closely, and remove from heat once sugar has dissolved completely.

Let cool.

Once ginger syrup has cooled, go ahead and mix up your beverage! :)

(Directions with Photos)

Clean and cut your ginger into chunks. It's not necessary to peel the ginger.

Dump ginger pieces into medium saucepan.

Add water.

Heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Turn off heat (leave pan on the burner), cover, and let steep (rest) for 1 hour.

Take cover off and discard ginger pieces. Strain, if necessary.

I don't have a fine mesh strainer, but there were tiny pieces of ginger floating in the liquid. I took a slotted spoon, wrapped some mesh fabric around it, and scooped through the liquid. It worked perfectly. :)

It should look something like this.

Add sugar and turn heat to medium.

Watch closely, and remove from heat once sugar has dissolved completely.

Let cool.

Once cooled, mix your beverage up!

I like to use approximately 3 1/2 Tbsp ginger syrup, 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice, 5 oz. club soda. (That makes about an 8 oz drink.) Taste it and see if you want to adjust the amounts of syrup, lime, or club soda.