Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?


I'm not sure where this tradition got started, but in my family we've
always given gingerale to people with respiratory ailments, had it on
hand as a cocktail mixer, but drank it at no other time. I understand
that fresh or dried ginger is supposed to have some good effect for
helping people with a little asthma or a bad cold breathe better.


I remember being a little girl when friends of my parents brought them
an unusual gift of a fancy decorated pot with a pale substance in it.
My parents never cooked with much in the way of spices so I wasn't
familiar with it, but my father told me to smell it. I did, thought for
a moment and then announced "gingerale!" The gift was dried ginger
which I'd never seen before, but I recognized the smell of ginger.


So here it is 35 years later, and I'm buying gingerale for Jim's cough,
and I'm looking at the ingredients of the different brands: Schweppes,
Canada Dry and Polar. I can't see that any of them have ginger in them.
I taste the Canada Dry when I get home. It bears no resemblence to
fresh ginger. So I think that maybe the name has nothing to do with the
original product except that doesn't explain how I knew real dried
ginger smelled like gingerale all those years ago.


Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
seltzer or something?


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
ginger smelled like gingerale all those years ago.
>
>
> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a seltzer
> or something?
>
>
> --Lia
>

If you do this an serve it to guests, please be sure to warn them about the
ginger ingredient. That would not be something that most people expect --
and I am very allergic to ginger. I don't know how unusual this allergy is,
but I suffer very painful consequences if I ingest just a tiny bit.

MaryL

MaryL wrote:

> If you do this an serve it to guests, please be sure to warn them about the
> ginger ingredient. That would not be something that most people expect --
> and I am very allergic to ginger. I don't know how unusual this allergy is,
> but I suffer very painful consequences if I ingest just a tiny bit.


Thanks for the advice on how to serve my guests. I'd be certain to tell
them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the conclusions
about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever suffered the painful
consequences from commercial gingerales? That might answer my question
about whether or not there's any ginger in them.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote:
> MaryL wrote:
>
>> If you do this an serve it to guests, please be sure to warn them
>> about the ginger ingredient. That would not be something that most
>> people expect -- and I am very allergic to ginger. I don't know
>> how
>> unusual this allergy is, but I suffer very painful consequences if
>> I
>> ingest just a tiny bit.
>
>
> Thanks for the advice on how to serve my guests. I'd be certain to
> tell them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the
> conclusions about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever
> suffered
> the painful consequences from commercial gingerales? That might
> answer my question about whether or not there's any ginger in them.
>
>
> --Lia

So it would seem. Check this out.

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~dins/history/gingerale.shtml


--
"Life is hard. Life is harder when
you're stupid". - John Wayne

"Politics is war without bloodshed while
war is politics with bloodshed" - Mao Zedong

'99 FLHRCI

On 2005-02-12, Pizen > wrote:

> So it would seem. Check this out.
>
> http://hcs.harvard.edu/~dins/history/gingerale.shtml

A great site. Thank you. My grandparents always had a couple of
six-paks of Vernor's around to bribe us kids. No wonder I'm such a
ginger ale fan. I do recall buying some here in the SFBA about 10-12
years ago, but haven't seen any in awhile. I buy Cock n' Bull Ginger
Beer these days when I need a ginger ale fix.

nb

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> MaryL wrote:
>
>> If you do this an serve it to guests, please be sure to warn them about
>> the ginger ingredient. That would not be something that most people
>> expect -- and I am very allergic to ginger. I don't know how unusual
>> this allergy is, but I suffer very painful consequences if I ingest just
>> a tiny bit.
>
>
> Thanks for the advice on how to serve my guests. I'd be certain to tell
> them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the conclusions
> about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever suffered the painful
> consequences from commercial gingerales? That might answer my question
> about whether or not there's any ginger in them.
>
>
> --Lia
>

No, I haven't -- but, then, I haven't dared to try it for many, many years
(so would not be a good source of information on that). Incidentally, I
wasn't trying to be rude by telling you "how to serve your guests." It's
just that people often do not even think about common ingredients that can
be a source of severe allergic reactions for many people. For example, I
did not know for many years about peanut allergies. Now, I know that they
are literally *deadly* to some people, so I always check with guests if I am
thinking of making anything that uses peanuts. I often don't know what
allergies individual guests have, so I try to ask them in advance. I
apologize if I offended you.

MaryL

Julia Altshuler wrote:
> MaryL wrote:
>
>> If you do this an serve it to guests, please be sure to warn them
>> about the ginger ingredient. That would not be something that most
>> people expect -- and I am very allergic to ginger. I don't know how
>> unusual this allergy is, but I suffer very painful consequences if I
>> ingest just a tiny bit.
>
>
>
> Thanks for the advice on how to serve my guests. I'd be certain to tell
> them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the conclusions
> about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever suffered the painful
> consequences from commercial gingerales? That might answer my question
> about whether or not there's any ginger in them.
>
>
> --Lia
>

And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
about, let us know about your attitude change.


jim

"JimLane" > wrote in message
>>
>
> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
> about, let us know about your attitude change.


Do you give your guest a list of ingredients they may consume when they
visit? I sure don't. If you come to dinner at my house, you will be served
a variety of items, different seasonings,

I someone has a possible severe reaction, they should take responsibility
for themselves and ask if anything contains that ingredient.

OTOH, I'd never serve anything that I know would male people have a reaction
like liver. Yechhhh!

"Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
>
> "JimLane" > wrote in message
>>>
>>
>> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
>> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
>> about, let us know about your attitude change.
>
>
> Do you give your guest a list of ingredients they may consume when they
> visit? I sure don't. If you come to dinner at my house, you will be
> served a variety of items, different seasonings,
>
> I someone has a possible severe reaction, they should take responsibility
> for themselves and ask if anything contains that ingredient.
>
> OTOH, I'd never serve anything that I know would male people have a
> reaction like liver. Yechhhh!
>

It isn't really necessary to provide a list of seasonings (I only reacted
strongly to the ginger because I get *very* ill, and that might be something
that would not be recognized). Instead of listing ingredients, most
people -- myself included -- simply ask if there is anything their guests
can't eat. I have had many people do this at the time they invite me to
dinner, and I really appreciate it. I do the same thing. It's not a big
deal, at all, but it sure does prevent the possibility of illnesses. Then,
we either don't serve a dish containing that ingredient or we point it out
so it can be avoided. That gives the guest a much more graceful way of
declining something than playing a question-and-answer game.

MaryL

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:


> Do you give your guest a list of ingredients they may consume when they
> visit? I sure don't. If you come to dinner at my house, you will be served
> a variety of items, different seasonings,
>
> I someone has a possible severe reaction, they should take responsibility
> for themselves and ask if anything contains that ingredient.

LOL, I should have just read ahead as you've said
the exact thing I tried to say. And you were more
succinct.
Goomba

JimLane wrote:

> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
> about, let us know about your attitude change.


It is possible for people to be allergic to almost anything. Sometimes
it is a well-known allergy like to peanuts, but someone somewhere might
have a deadly reaction to something weird like saffron or Marsala. If
guests ask me about the ingredients in a dish, I'm always glad to tell
them just like I'm glad to talk about recipes and food here. It is one
of my favorite subjects. But if a guest expects me to warn her that
there's peanuts in the peanut brittle, dairy in the ice cream and ginger
in the homemade gingerale, all I can say is that I'll be glad Darwinism
is at work with no change in attitude. It's the responsibility of the
guests to ask the questions necessary to safeguard health, not the host
to consider every weird food reaction and provide warnings. Oh, and
here's a polite gesture on my part: Don't take naps in the middle of
busy highways; you might get hit by a car.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> JimLane wrote:
>
>> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
>> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
>> about, let us know about your attitude change.
>
>
> It is possible for people to be allergic to almost anything. Sometimes it
> is a well-known allergy like to peanuts, but someone somewhere might have
> a deadly reaction to something weird like saffron or Marsala. If guests
> ask me about the ingredients in a dish, I'm always glad to tell them just
> like I'm glad to talk about recipes and food here. It is one of my
> favorite subjects. But if a guest expects me to warn her that there's
> peanuts in the peanut brittle, dairy in the ice cream and ginger in the
> homemade gingerale, all I can say is that I'll be glad Darwinism is at
> work with no change in attitude. It's the responsibility of the guests to
> ask the questions necessary to safeguard health, not the host to consider
> every weird food reaction and provide warnings. Oh, and here's a polite
> gesture on my part: Don't take naps in the middle of busy highways; you
> might get hit by a car.
>
>
> --Lia
>

I know you think it was stupid of me to suggest warning guests that there is
ginger in homemade ginger ale. I would agree *if* the guests know before
drinking some that it is ginger ale. Many times, something like that will
simply be handed out or even served from a large punch bowl. I'm not so
incredibly stupid as to assume that someone allergic to something wouldn't
ask about it if the name gave it away -- just I would assume that someone
would know there are peanuts in peanut butter (but might not recognize it if
peanut butter were included as part of a recipe). I just think it's
courteous to ask guests if there is anything they are allergic to. If so,
you can point out a "problem" food -- neither you nor the guests have to
make a big deal of it, and you don't even need to change your menu.

MaryL

In article >, JimLane
> wrote:

> > Thanks for the advice on how to serve my guests. I'd be certain to
> > tell them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the
> > conclusions about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever
> > suffered the painful consequences from commercial gingerales? That
> > might answer my question about whether or not there's any ginger in
> > them.
>
> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
> about, let us know about your attitude change.

I'm sorry, if someone doesn't know enough to decline when another
person offers them something to which they are allergic, their death is
a suicide.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article >, Ranee
Mueller > wrote:


> I'm sorry, if someone doesn't know enough to decline when another
> person offers them something to which they are allergic, their death is
> a suicide.


It seems pretty clear that someone who has a reaction to ginger shouldn't
consume ginger ale, or ginger chicken, or anything with ginger in the
name. Some things aren't so obvious, though. There was a tragic case
some time back, where a restaurant sold chili with a secret ingredient in
it. Somebody found out the secret ingredient the hard way, by dying from
it. It was peanut butter. Most people wouldn't expect to find peanut
butter in their chili.

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS

JimLane wrote:
I'd be certain to
>> tell them that I was serving homemeade gingerale and leave the
>> conclusions about its ingredients up to them. Have you ever suffered
>> the painful consequences from commercial gingerales? That might
>> answer my question about whether or not there's any ginger in them.
>> --Lia
>>
>
> And when one of them dies or ends up in a hospital because they ingested
> something you did not have the courtesy to consider letting them know
> about, let us know about your attitude change.
> jim

If someone said they're giving me "Ginger ale" and
I had an allergy to "ginger", I'd probably be the
one asking if it contained real ginger or
something?? And that the name includes "ginger"
would be my first clue, huh? I don't think the
hostess need list every ingredient to every dish
she serves, just in case. I think the allergic
guest has the responsibility to speak up if it's
an issue? Saves that host or hostess the trouble
of reciting ingredient lists ad nauseum.
Goomba

Julia Altshuler wrote:

>
> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
> seltzer or something?
>
>
> --Lia
>

I made it quite a long time ago and don't recall exactly how but I saw
this recently from Ming Tsai and it's fairly close to the same thing
as I recall.





2 cups ginger slices, peeled (1/8 inch thick)
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 quart soda water
1 lime cut in wedges
4 mint sprigs

Mix ginger, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer.
Reduce mixture by 50 percent until a syrupy consistency is reached.
Keep in mind that the syrup will thicken as it cools. Strain warm
syrup. Allow to cool.

While syrup is cooling, make ginger candy. Take ginger slices that
have been drained out of the syrup and completely coat in sugar.
Spread on sheet pan and slowly dry out in a 225-degree oven for 3
hours. Ginger slices should be dried but still chewy.

In a tall glass of ice, add mint sprig and a ratio of 1 part ginger
syrup to 7 parts soda water. Squeeze lime wedge and add to drink. Use
more syrup if desired. Stir and enjoy. Can also make drink with
chilled soda water and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a tasty
Ginger Ale Float.
--
Steve

Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little
bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards...

Julia Altshuler wrote:

>
> I remember being a little girl when friends of my parents brought them
> an unusual gift of a fancy decorated pot with a pale substance in it.
> My parents never cooked with much in the way of spices so I wasn't
> familiar with it, but my father told me to smell it. I did, thought for
> a moment and then announced "gingerale!" The gift was dried ginger
> which I'd never seen before, but I recognized the smell of ginger.
>
> So here it is 35 years later, and I'm buying gingerale for Jim's cough,
> and I'm looking at the ingredients of the different brands: Schweppes,
> Canada Dry and Polar. I can't see that any of them have ginger in them.
> I taste the Canada Dry when I get home. It bears no resemblence to
> fresh ginger. So I think that maybe the name has nothing to do with the
> original product except that doesn't explain how I knew real dried
> ginger smelled like gingerale all those years ago.
>
> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
> seltzer or something?

How about trying ginger beer, the non -alcoholic variety. It has a lot more
ginger taste to it than ginger ale.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
>
>>I remember being a little girl when friends of my parents brought them
>>an unusual gift of a fancy decorated pot with a pale substance in it.
>>My parents never cooked with much in the way of spices so I wasn't
>>familiar with it, but my father told me to smell it. I did, thought for
>>a moment and then announced "gingerale!" The gift was dried ginger
>>which I'd never seen before, but I recognized the smell of ginger.
>>
>>So here it is 35 years later, and I'm buying gingerale for Jim's cough,
>>and I'm looking at the ingredients of the different brands: Schweppes,
>>Canada Dry and Polar. I can't see that any of them have ginger in them.
>> I taste the Canada Dry when I get home. It bears no resemblence to
>>fresh ginger. So I think that maybe the name has nothing to do with the
>>original product except that doesn't explain how I knew real dried
>>ginger smelled like gingerale all those years ago.
>>
>>Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
>>soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
>>seltzer or something?
>
>
> How about trying ginger beer, the non -alcoholic variety. It has a lot more
> ginger taste to it than ginger ale.
>

There are a variety of "boutique" ginger ales out there today with
fairly strong ginger flavor.


jim

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
>
> I'm not sure where this tradition got started, but in my family we've
> always given gingerale to people with respiratory ailments, had it on hand
> as a cocktail mixer, but drank it at no other time. I understand that
> fresh or dried ginger is supposed to have some good effect for helping
> people with a little asthma or a bad cold breathe better.

> So here it is 35 years later, and I'm buying gingerale for Jim's cough,
> and I'm looking at the ingredients of the different brands: Schweppes,
> Canada Dry and Polar. I can't see that any of them have ginger in them. I
> taste the Canada Dry when I get home.

Most soda today has "flavorings" rather than the real ingredient in raw
form. It happens to be one of my favorite sodas, but I don't care for
ginger as a spice in cooking all that much.


> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a seltzer
> or something?

Give it a try. Sure won't harm anything.

On Sat 12 Feb 2005 09:15:50a, Edwin Pawlowski wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> Most soda today has "flavorings" rather than the real ingredient in raw
> form. It happens to be one of my favorite sodas, but I don't care for
> ginger as a spice in cooking all that much.

I think Vernor's Ginger Ale still uses essence of pure ginger, as least they
used to in the not so distant past.

Wayne

In article >,
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> On Sat 12 Feb 2005 09:15:50a, Edwin Pawlowski wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
> > Most soda today has "flavorings" rather than the real ingredient in raw
> > form. It happens to be one of my favorite sodas, but I don't care for
> > ginger as a spice in cooking all that much.
>
> I think Vernor's Ginger Ale still uses essence of pure ginger, as least they
> used to in the not so distant past.

Be still my heart. Do you know how long it's been since I've had
Vernor's ginger ale? *sigh*

Jamaican (or other Caribean) ginger beer can be pretty gingery, too.

Priscilla

--
"And what's this crap about Sodomites? It's always Sodomites this and
Sodomites that. What about us Gomorrahians? We were there too; we
deserve some mention. Sodom always gets the credit, and Gomorrah always
does the work." - JohnN in alt.religion.christian.episcopal

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

> Most soda today has "flavorings" rather than the real ingredient in raw
> form. It happens to be one of my favorite sodas, but I don't care for
> ginger as a spice in cooking all that much.

Many of the soft drink companies claim to use real ginger in their gingerales
and claim that the competitors use artificial flavouring. I grew up down the
street from an executive of Canada Dry and he kept us well supplied with their
products. His wife considered ginger ale to be a cure all and when ever one of
us was ill she would bring some over. We moved to another city and I met a guy
whose family ran a small time soft drink company. They often bottled for some
of the bigger brand names. He claimed that their gingerale was better than
Canada Dry because they used real ginger and that Canada Dry used artificial
flavouring. Go figger.


I got to make the pop making process from start to finish. They had recipes that
used very concentrated flavours, mixed it with a sugar syrup. The flavoured
syrup is then bottled along with carbonated water.

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
> seltzer or something?

That would probably be horrible.
Make a ginger flavoured syrup and mix it with carbonated water.

Hold on. Google found this one:

Ginger Ale

The ale tastes best when the syrup concentrate is allowed to sit in the
refrigerator overnight before using.

Syrup concentrate for the ale:

3 1/2 cups water
4-inch long piece of ginger, peeled & chopped
2 Tbsp vanilla flavoring
3 tsp lemon flavoring (non-alcoholic)
1/2 tsp stevia powder (or to taste)

Serving the Ale:

1 cup sparkling water or club soda per serving.

Directions:

Boil down the ginger in water for 10 minutes. Strain out ginger pieces and
pour ginger juice into jar. Add vanilla and lemon flavorings and stevia.

Let cool and store in refrigerator as a syrup concentrate.

Add 1/8 - 1/4 cup of syrup to 6-8 oz of sparkling water and serve.

In article >, Dave Smith
> wrote:

> Syrup concentrate for the ale:
>
> 3 1/2 cups water
> 4-inch long piece of ginger, peeled & chopped
> 2 Tbsp vanilla flavoring
> 3 tsp lemon flavoring (non-alcoholic)
> 1/2 tsp stevia powder (or to taste)

If I wanted to make this with actual sugar, how would I change this
(aside from getting rid of the stevia), as in how much sugar equals this
amount of stevia? Thanks!

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

Ranee Mueller wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>
> > Syrup concentrate for the ale:
> >
> > 3 1/2 cups water
> > 4-inch long piece of ginger, peeled & chopped
> > 2 Tbsp vanilla flavoring
> > 3 tsp lemon flavoring (non-alcoholic)
> > 1/2 tsp stevia powder (or to taste)
>
> If I wanted to make this with actual sugar, how would I change
this
> (aside from getting rid of the stevia), as in how much sugar equals
this
> amount of stevia?

That recipe actually indicates actual ginger. The stevia powder
indicates "to taste", so I'd add sugar until it's to your taste.
Besides, there are actual ginger ale recipes on the net.

I've made ginger wine but never ginger ale... here's one that actually
uses actual real ingredients, and actually looks easy.

http://tinyurl.com/4fb7z

Ginger Ale

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 (1-liter) bottles club soda or plain seltzer, chilled

Combine ginger (don't bother to peel it), sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water
in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Lower heat and simmer mixture about 15 minutes, or until it reaches the
consistency of pancake syrup (you should have about 1 cup syrup).
Strain syrup and cool to room temperature. Stir in lemon juice. Place 2
tablespoons syrup in 8-ounce glasses and fill three quarters full with
club soda. Gently stir to blend. Add ice and more club soda or syrup if
necessary.

Real Simple, JUNE 2000
---

Sheldon

Julia,


http://www.bundaberg-brew.com.au/asp...s&page=ginger_
beer

Nuf' said!

It's available in the U.S. somewhere.

Andy

--
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"
- Ed Sullivan (1964)

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 08:32:36 -0500, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

>Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
>
>I'm not sure where this tradition got started, but in my family we've
>always given gingerale to people with respiratory ailments, had it on
>hand as a cocktail mixer, but drank it at no other time. I
understand
>that fresh or dried ginger is supposed to have some good effect for
>helping people with a little asthma or a bad cold breathe better.
>
>
>I remember being a little girl when friends of my parents brought
them
>an unusual gift of a fancy decorated pot with a pale substance in it.
>My parents never cooked with much in the way of spices so I wasn't
>familiar with it, but my father told me to smell it. I did, thought
for

snipped..
That ceramic "pot" is called a Ginger Jar and had a beautiful base
and a matching small cap-type top that was often tied with raffia.
They are Chinese I believe and quite valuable. My grandmother had a
number of them.

aloha,
Thunder
smithfarms.com
Farmers of 100% Kona Coffee
& other Great Stuff

smithfarms pure kona wrote:

> That ceramic "pot" is called a Ginger Jar and had a beautiful base
> and a matching small cap-type top that was often tied with raffia.
> They are Chinese I believe and quite valuable. My grandmother had a
> number of them.


I'd be surprised if my parents saved it. My memory goes back 35 years,
and I don't think I've seen it in their home since. Still, it could be
at the back of some long-forgotten cupboard. You never know.


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
Anyone remember Vernor's?

> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
> seltzer or something?
>

I would run a load of ginger through a juicer, like a Champion. It will
produce a cloudy beverage, but tastey, though, like Vernor's, a bit peppery.
Ginger has very tough fiber, so go easy and watch that you don't overload
the motor.

Juiced ginger makes an excellent cooking ingredient, also. My favorite use
is for making pineapple-ginger icecream.

Julia Altshuler wrote:
> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
>

Dunno but it sounds like you want a Ginger Beer - a non-alcoholic one.
Ther eis a Jamaican brand that is good _ i forget what it is called...

-L.

In article >, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?

There certainly used to be. I just asked the guy down the hall, because
he was drinking some. The can didn't mention ginger, just "natural
flavor".


> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a
> seltzer or something?


I made ginger tea at church camp last year. I cut up 2-3 pounds of ginger
(that was quite a task) and put it in a huge pan on the stove. I'll guess
15 gallons. I had only volunteered for an hour, so I left. I didn't see
it at dinner that night, but I was kind of wondering how long it would
take to reach boiling and then extract the flavor. I don't know if they
intended to serve it hot or cold, but there wasn't time for it to cool. I
saw it over the next couple of days, and it was pretty good. As far as I
know it was just ginger and water.


I would suggest cutting up ginger and boiling it in a little water. Let
it cool down, and add to cold sparkling water with sugar to taste.

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS

Dan Abel wrote:

> I would suggest cutting up ginger and boiling it in a little water. Let
> it cool down, and add to cold sparkling water with sugar to taste.


I'll experiment with this and the other suggestions. Thanks to all who
wrote. (Jim's not coughing nearly so much. It may be a while before I
get to experiment. I only think of gingerale when one us has a cold.)


--Lia

> In article >, Julia Altshuler
> > wrote:
>
> > Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?

I always wondered why they called it ginger ale when it tasted just like
seven-up. Then I tasted Vernors ginger ale. That has so much ginger it makes
me sneeze. Great stuff.

Kathy

On Tue 15 Feb 2005 11:11:36a, Kathy wrote in rec.food.cooking:

>> In article >, Julia Altshuler
>> > wrote:
>>
>> > Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
> I always wondered why they called it ginger ale when it tasted just like
> seven-up. Then I tasted Vernors ginger ale. That has so much ginger it
> makes me sneeze. Great stuff.
>
> Kathy

I never cared for Canada Dry, but always thought Schwepp's had a good flavor.
Vernor's, of course, has a great ginger taste! They used to advertise it
being aged in a barrel. Don't know if they still do.

Wayne

The best ginger ale I ever had was served at a restaurant called the
Ginger Club. (Unfortunately that restaurant is now out of business.)
Ginger was a part of every dish they made there, whether savory or
sweet. But their ginger ale was superb, by virtue of being so fresh.
It followed the basic recipe of a ginger syrup stirred into a tall
glass of sparkling water of some kind or another. It had a nice
balance of bite and sweetness. I've made an attempt at ginger ale at
home with ginger syrup I made and some San Pellegrino bubbly water, but
it's just not the same.

Melsisa

In article >,
Julia Altshuler > wrote:

> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?

Yep.

And Bundaberg ginger ale (from Australia) still has ginger in it.

Miche

--
WWMVD?