March 13th is National Ginger Ale Day, time to enjoy a refreshing glass of ginger ale.

You can buy a commercial brand, of course; but for something special, you can purchase ginger syrup and add it to club soda. If you like a hot and spice sizzle, pick up some ginger beer syrup.

The syrups can also be used to flavor barbecue sauce, cocktails, desserts, dips, dressings, glazes, iced tea and other foods and beverages.

Or, make your own ginger ale from scratch, using fresh ginger root simmered in water. The flavor is so much more vibrant: It sizzles.

And, since St. Patrick’s Day is in a few days, you can color it green!

We adapted this recipe from Epicurious. A squeeze of lime juice, not an ingredient in conventional ginger ale, adds terrific flavor complexity.

The recipe makes about 1-1/2 cups syrup, enough for 4 to 6 drinks. Prep time is 10 minutes, total time including chilling is 3 hours.

Below:

> Homemade ginger ale recipe.

> The history of ginger ale.

> The difference between ginger ale and ginger beer.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 11 ginger-related holidays.

> The year’s 24 non-alcoholic beverage holidays (including juice and soft drinks).

> The year’s 50+ cocktail and spirits holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: HOMEMADE GINGER ALE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the syrup: Over a low simmer, cook the ginger and water in a small saucepan, partially covered, for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the ginger steep, fully covered, for 20 minutes.

2. STRAIN the mixture into a bowl, pressing on the ginger to extract all liquid; then discard the ginger. Return the liquid to the saucepan, add the sugar and salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.

3. CHILL the syrup in a covered jar until cold. To make ginger ale, mix 1/4 cup of ginger syrup with 3/4 cup club soda and 1-1/2 teaspoons lime juice. Taste and adjust the proportions as desired. Use up the syrup within one week.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF GINGER ALE

First came ginger beer, which originated in England in the 1800s. It was brewed like beer from ginger, sugar, water, lemon juice and ginger beer plant, a cluster of microorganisms like kombucha. It had an alcohol content of 11%. Today’s supermarket beers average 4%-6% and craft beers average 5.9%, although some styles are brewed with ABVs in excess of 11%).

The first non-alcoholic ginger ale was created in Belfast, Ireland in 1851 (some sources say 1852) when pharmacist Thomas Cantrell blended ginger root, sugar, and carbonated water. He fermented it into a dark brew with a sharp ginger punch, more like today’s strong ginger beers than today’s large, pale ginger ales.

The first American ginger ale was made in 1866, also by a pharmacist, John Vernor. According to company lore, he was experimenting with a ginger tonic recipe and left the syrup in an oak cask when he went to fight in the Civil War. When he returned four years later, the aging process had transformed the contents into the unique ginger ale.

His amber-colored soda had a sharp bite that burned throats and cleared sinuses with a caramel sweetness and intense carbonation.

Editor’s note: Carbonated beverages, including Coca-Cola, were created by pharmacists as health-related tonics. The first soda fountains were located in pharmacies.
 

[6] America’s first ginger ale was Vernor’s founded in 1866 when Detroit pharmacist James Vernor mixed ginger root, vanilla, and spices in oak barrels. This ad, from the 1920s or early 1930s, features the classic brand’s gnome/leprechaun mascot from that era. (photo courtesy History Oasis).

[1] Homemade ginger ale (Freepik Photo).

[2] Even easier: buy ginger-flavored simple syrup and add 2 ounces to a glass of sparkling water (photo © Sonoma Syrup).

[3] Use fresh ginger root to make ginger syrup from scratch (photo © Jan Schone | SXC).

[4] Although not the first, Canada Dry, launched in 1907, is considered the “father” of modern ginger ale. This bottle is from the 1940s. See more old soda bottles at Printmag.com.

[5] While mainstream shelf space is dominated by brands like Canada Dry, Schweppes, and Seagram’s, our favorite brand of ginger ale is Reed’s. It’s spicier than most brands (photo © Reed’s).

Modern-style ginger ale was born in 1907 when a Canadian, John McLaughlin, owner of a Toronto soda water since 1890, invented Pale Dry Ginger Ale (which became Canada Dry).

He eschewed the dark, sugary, ginger ales and created a light dry version the color of Champagne. As a soft drink rather than a tonic, consumers preferred it and the dry style became the current style.

It was available in two versions: dry ginger ale, the style of modern ginger ale—pale color, mellow ginger flavor—and golden ginger ale, with a much deeper ginger flavor and golden color.

A Boost During Prohibition

During Prohibition (1920 through 1933), American bartenders mixed bootleg whiskey with ginger ale to mask the burn and cover up the aftertaste of bathtub gin and other poorly distilled alcohol.

Today, the golden style—deeper color and flavor—survives as non-alcoholic ginger beer. While modern ginger beers do have a touch of alcohol from the fermentation, they are categorized as non-alcoholic drinks in the U.S. because their alcohol content is less than 0.5% (this meets FDA requirements for a non-alcoholic beverage).

Ginger ale was the most popular soft drink in the U.S. until the 1930s, when it was surpassed by Coca-Cola (first was bottled for distribution in 1899).

But it continues to be a popular cocktail mixer.

The Artisan Movement

In 1989, Chris Reed launched the artisan ginger ale movement with a ginger beer recipe that used fresh ginger root pieces instead of artificial flavoring, and reintroducing traditional, small-batch brewing methods to a market that had been (and is) dominated by mass-produced, artificially flavored sodas for decades.

Before Reed’s, the “Big Three” (Schweppes [founded 1870], Canada Dry [904], and Seagram’s [1834]) had moved almost entirely toward the “Pale Dry” styles, and used ginger extracts or artificial flavorings instead of real ginger.

In 1987, Reed began to research old Jamaican recipes that used massive amounts of fresh ginger root, honey, and fruit juices instead of high-fructose corn syrup and “natural flavors.” (His recipe uses honey and pineapple juice).

Reed’s ginger ale was a radical departure from the clear, fizzy sodas consumers were used to. He began to selling it in Los Angeles health food stores, and Americans with picky palates took notice.

Today, Reed’s is joined by Boylan’s, Bruce Cost, Bundaberg, Dry Botanical Bubbly (formerly Dry Soda), Fever-Tree, GuS, Maine Root, Q Mixers, and Virgil’s, among others.

(Among these brands, those that make both ginger ale (a clear ginger soda) and ginger beer (a spicier/brewed version) are Bundaberg, Fentiman’s, Fever-Tree, Maine Root, Reed’s, and Virgil’s.)

For the next National Ginger Ale Day, March 13th, why not host a ginger ale tasting party?
 

[7] Another of our favorite ginger ale brands is Fever Tree, but it’s made in smaller bottles as cocktail mixers (photo © Fever Tree).
 
 
GINGER ALE & GINGER BEER: THE DIFFERENCE

The main differences between today’s ginger ale and ginger beer are the sweetness and spiciness.

Ginger beer is less sweet than ginger ale, and has a sizzling ginger kick. The spicier ginger beer provides a bite to cocktails and food pairings (any spicy or highly-seasoned foods, as well as foods with sweet glazes and sauces like barbecue or glazed ham). The lighter ginger ale provides more sweetness and effervescence as a soft drink or cocktail mixer.

Production processes differ. Ginger beer is brewed (naturally fermented), a reason for the higher price. Ginger ale is a soft drink made from flavored carbonated water.

Historically, both were fermented. Today only ginger beer is fermented, a reason for the higher price.

 
Now, the exception: Some artisan soft drink makers, including Reed’s Original Ginger Brew in the U.S. and Fentinman’s in England, ferment their soft drinks for more flavor and complexity.

Will this become a trend? Stay tuned?
 

[8] The best ginger beers from a Taste Of Home tasting (photo © Taste Of Home).
 

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