When my son was born, I began to take more careful precautions to keep our family healthy so we could continue to work, travel, and enjoy learning together without succumbing to the colds and other illnesses that are common to young children and their carers, especially during the cold winter months. I wanted to ensure that our approach was as natural as possible, yet available everywhere we might wander.
Enter ginger tea!
Ginger is an incredibly pungent and fragrant rhizome which is easily located in local produce stands, shops, and markets all over the world. The International Journal of Preventive Medicine has long recognized the various curative and restorative properties of ginger, including long articles regarding its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. (1)
A small knob of this strong root simmered in hot water, produces an incredibly curative drink. While large slices are the easiest to cut, the brew will be even stronger when more surface area of ginger comes into contact with the bubbling water. Cut your slices into smaller diced pieces or thinner matchsticks to strengthen your tea, or even grate your ginger for the strongest possible beverage. Strain the pieces of ginger as you pour your tea into your cup.
We like to add a few other elements to our beverage, depending on our location in the world and the ingredients available. As with all food and drink, we really enjoy customizing each serving to fit the taste buds and mood of the individual recipient.
Citrus
Lemon is probably the most common citrus fruit we’ve added to our ginger tea. The combination of lemon and ginger is one you’ll often find commercially when seeking out over-the-counter medicines, throat soothers, and herbal or relaxing tea blends. We found a variety of different types of lemons added an interesting new zing to our tea during our time in Sicily. In Mexico, limes were the commonly available citrus of choice. While living in Japan, we would add yuzu, or Japanese citron, to our tea.
How you choose to incorporate your citrus is entirely up to you. We have found that the natural oils found in the peel provide the strongest citrus flavor, so we tend to steep strips of it in the simmering liquid with the ginger. For a lighter flavor, simply add a squeeze of fresh juice to your tea after pouring it into your cup. For something halfway in between, try squeezing a wedge into your cup, then dropping the fruit into your cup for a minute or two before the first sip. [Note: the white pithy layer between the colorful peel of a citrus fruit and its juicy flesh can be very bitter. Please take care to minimize boiling or steeping fruit pieces with excessive pith.]
Sweetener
In order to balance the strong spiciness of the ginger and the bitter acidity of the citrus, we like to add a little sweetness to each cup of ginger tea. This could be something as simple as a spoonful of sugar (helps the medicine go down, right?) to a drizzle of honey from a beautifully ridged dipper. We love sampling local honeys when we travel, as each variety adds different floral notes to the mix. We have also stirred in black sugars in parts of Asia, dissolved pieces of Mexican piloncillo (a brown cone of cane sugar commonly used there), and even poured in a bit of Canadian maple syrup. Feel free to adjust the volume to your desired tastes!
Tea Leaves, Milk, and Spices
It’s always fun to play with a variety of additions to help strengthen the pungency of the mixture as well as add a bit more flavor and international flair to the cup. Our friends from India and Sri Lanka shared their favorite variations on ginger tea by adding spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and even black pepper for a little extra punch. Simmered in a pot of water, along with with the ginger and black tea leaves, these form the base for a powerful chai.
Our favorite Sri Lankan variation also included a heaping spoonful of milk powder, which added a soft richness to the tea without diluting the flavor of the ginger and spices. A Pakistani variation actually simmered all of the ingredients in fresh whole milk, skimming the skin from the surface before pouring each cup. Our Indian chai was brewed as a black tea with the whole milk added to the cup just before serving.
However, your tea leaves need not be black, if you prefer another variety. We’ve played around with various Japanese green teas in our ginger tea (minus the milk and spices) for a lighter and more refreshing sip. Even roasted and smoky green tea leaves from China and Taiwan added another complex layer of flavor when steeped in the ginger mixture.
Finally, if you think you can handle a little extra heat, you might be bold enough to swirl a little chili pepper in for a hot and spicy ginger tea! I’ve found a dash of hot sauce in a cup of ginger tea can bring a cleansing flush to the head and nasal passages with the first whiff. If you’re feeling extra daring, you may even enjoy a few slices of Thai chili peppers simmered with your ginger or a dash of cayenne in your cup.
However you may choose to enjoy your special blend of tea, don’t forget to savor the sweet smells of ginger that float from your cup as you sip on this natural home remedy. Wherever you and your family wander, you can be sure that you’re drinking to your health!
- “Anti-Oxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Ginger in Health and Physical Activity: Review of Current Evidence,” International Journal of Preventive Medicine, Nafiseh Shokri Mashhadi, Reza Ghiasvand, Gholamreza Askari, Mitra Hariri, Leila Darvishi, and Mohammad Reza Mofid, 2013 April; 4(Suppl 1): S36-S42.