Ginger Tea: A Wintertime Work Horse to Support Your Health

By Amanda Rose | Ginger

Jan 06

A wintertime work horse tea to support your health with a bonus pro tip on efficiencyI keep variants of this tea stock on my stove top through the fall and the winter to support the wintertime health of this family. Ginger is a long-used natural remedy for supporting your body against cold and flu. I feel better when I am drinking it regularly and drink it with more purpose if I feel a bit of a cold coming on.

Right now, the ginger sits on my stove top with a bit of fresh turmeric as well, which I add whenever I am lucky enough to have it. You can find much more about turmeric as you explore this website.

As for the ginger tea, nothing could be more simple: slice or grate your ginger and put it in a saucepan of water. Bring the water to a boil, place a lid on the pan, and turn off the heat. Let it sit for a half hour or, better yet, over night. There is no “right” or “wrong” with ginger tea.

Find a method that works in your household, this approach works in mine:

Homemade Ginger Tea

A wintertime work horse tea to support your health with a bonus pro tip on efficiency

  • Thin-slice a two-inch length of ginger root, skin and all. Place it in a saucepan.
  • Add about six cups of water.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Cover and turn off the heat.
  • Let it sit overnight. (Let it sit for 30 minutes if you’re in a pinch.)
  • Reheat it and strain it into a tea cup. Add honey. If it’s too strong to taste, dilute it with water. (I keep a kettle of hot water around most of the winter as well.)

When you’ve used all of the liquid in the saucepan for your tea, add more water to your ginger and re-use the ginger to make more tea. I use the same ginger a few times and then add more fresh ginger to it when it looses its punch. I usually make this tea in the evening while I’m cleaning the kitchen so that it can sit all night and be ready for the next day. I toss out all of the used ginger every week or so and start fresh.

Ginger-Peeling Pro Tip!

I promised a “pro tip” and here you go. Every idea is obvious once someone tells you. 😉

If you are also cooking with fresh ginger (excellent, you’ve discovered the joys of ginger in your food), you know you need to peel it before dicing it and adding it to your stir fry. You may painstakingly peel around all of the little nubs on the root so that you don’t waste your ginger. Not being wasteful is, of course, excellent but here’s a better idea: peel your root, cutting those nubs off completely and putting them in the discard pile with your peels. Now put the ginger peel and nubs in your saucepan and make your ginger tea while your cook up your stir fry.

Ginger Tea

A recipe for homemade ginger tea.
Prep Time 3 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 33 mins
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 inches ginger root
  • 6 cups water

Instructions
 

  • Thin slice the length of your ginger root. There is no need to peel the root.
  • Bring water to boil.
  • Place the sliced ginger root in a pot, pour over boiling water, cover with a lid.
  • Let mixture sit for at least 30 minutes. Keep it on a low simmer if you're in the kitchen. (Just turn it off if there is a risk of forgetting about it.)
  • Strain the solids from the liquid, retaining the liquid as your ginger tea.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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