Breath of Fire Ginger Ale

There’s a brewery that opened last year near my place and it suddenly became the spot where weekly meetings, lunch dates and happy hours took place. As a non-beer drinking vegetarian, I found myself trying to get out of these meet-ups because I assumed I would be bored and starving as everyone chugged beer and ate burgers. However, I was pleasantly surprised upon first entry. This city girl in a rural town had a spark of wistfulness for my Denver ‘hood as I walked in to see mod sleek lines throughout, street tacos w/veggie options on the menu and a non-alcoholic menu full of mouth-watering mocktails. I settled on the Smoked Pineapple Cooler and haven’t look back since.

It has been my weekly go-to, even through the cold, harsh Montana winter. When quarantine set in I tried to go a week without it. I finally gave in and asked if they would offer it to go and they made it without hesitation. And so, my weekly date with the best damn mocktail transitioned to a couple times a week and things got serious very quickly. I was feeling guilty about leaving my house so often while trying to fully participate in social distancing and limited every other interaction in my life. Until one day, a loved one asked if they could put a kit together for me to make them at home. Again, without hesitation they did! So, I was delivered a drink and SIX more to mix myself and was elated.

Now, we are all in quarantine and everyone knows food and drinks disappear at an alarming rate. Strolls to the kitchen are frequent and never turn out as planned. And so I found my laziness kicking in so rather than mixing the drink because I was really trying to save them for happy hour calls with friends, I found myself downing half a can of the ginger beer and then the other half on my next walk which is the main mixer for this delicious beverage. The situation got dire by the weekend when I had made one smoked pineapple cooler daily but had no more supply of the ginger beer. I did however, have a vegetable drawer full of ginger which goes in my daily smoothie, and a soda stream for making sparkling water daily.

So, this ginger ale recipe was created out of deep necessity in quarantine to keep drinking my favorite mocktail and developing a taste for ginger beer all on its own. Had I known it was so easy, I would have been making it all along. Enjoy this easy peasy way to create a sparkling beverage that is refreshing, feels good on the throat and settles the tummy.

Homemade Ginger Ale

Ingredients/Kitchen Appliances

• Juicer

• Soda Stream or similar (can use purchased sparkling water if you don’t have one)

• Ginger

• Water

• Sugar

• Lime

Juice a pint jar’s worth of ginger and set aside. Add carbonation to water (or use store-bought sparkling water). Combine 1.5 liters of sparkling water with 1/4 cup juiced ginger for a strong kick. If you want less kick, add less ginger. stir in 1/4-1/2 cup cane sugar for taste. Use stevia or honey to sweeten if preferred. Squeeze 1/2 lime into mixture and stir. Add some ice and enjoy a chilled fire breathing drink or use it as a mixer in your favorite alcoholic beverage or NA drink.

This recipe will still maintain a cloudy looking drink. If you dilute the drink with more sparkling water or less ginger, it will be less potent with the ginger flavor. If you add more sugar, it will also have a more traditional quality. I personally like the kick and not a lot of sweetness so the drink is perfect for me. Since it’s my recipe, you are at the mercy of my ginger love!