Ginger juice

Ingredients

The ginger

• 300 gfresh ginger
• young if you can get it
• peeled roughly and chopped
• or more, for a fiercer drink

The liquid

• 1.5 litreswater
• boiled and cooled
• or filtered water

The sweetening

• 200 gsugar
• or to taste
• or honey, stirred in cold

The flavouring

• juice of 2 lemons
• or 3 limes
• a pinch of salt
• optional
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• optional
• a few mint leaves
• optional
• a strip of pineapple skin
• optional, see the note

Equipment

• a blender
• a fine sieve or muslin cloth
• clean bottles
• ice, to serve

Directions

1. Chop the ginger roughly. Put it in a blender with some of the water. Blend it for a good two minutes. It should be broken down completely. Add water gradually as it breaks down.
2. Pour the blended mixture into a large bowl. Add the rest of the water. Let it steep for at least two hours. Steep it in the refrigerator in warm weather. Pour it through a fine sieve lined with muslin.
3. Put the squeezed pulp back in the bowl. Add a little more water and work it again. Strain that too. Add sugar gradually and taste as you go.
4. Stir until every grain has dissolved. Dissolve it in a little warm water first if it resists. Adjust it to your own taste. Add the lemon or lime juice. Taste and add more if it seems flat. Many recipes include it and many do not.
5. Adjust the ginger quantity to your tolerance. Anyone taking such medication should ask a doctor.
6. Pour it into clean bottles. Refrigerate it for at least three hours. Keep it refrigerated at all times. Use clean bottles and clean utensils.
7. Discard it if it begins to fizz or smell fermented. Serve it very cold over plenty of ice. Shake or stir it before pouring. It keeps three or four days refrigerated.

Technique

• Blend the ginger longer than feels necessary — a full two minutes — and add water gradually. Ginger is fibrous and holds its juice tightly, and how finely you break it down decides how much you get out of it.
• Steep for at least two hours, and overnight if you can. The ginger keeps releasing flavour as it sits and the drink becomes noticeably hotter, so taste after steeping rather than before.
• Steep it in the refrigerator in warm weather. Left warm it begins to ferment, which is deliberate in some versions and not what this one intends.
• Do a second extraction: return the squeezed pulp, add a little water, work it and strain again. It yields a surprising amount more.
• Scrape ginger skin off with the edge of a teaspoon rather than a peeler. It follows the knobbly shape and wastes far less flesh — and for a drink that gets strained, peeling matters less anyway if you scrub it well.
• Ground ginger will not work. It gives a dusty muddy drink with none of the fresh burn.
• Get the sweetness right or the drink is simply harsh. The sugar balances the burn rather than masking it, and a pinch of salt makes both the sweet and the sour more distinct.
• Pineapple skin is a fermentation starter — wild yeasts live on it. Leave it out for an unfermented drink; include it if you want the lightly fizzy version. The atlas keeps the two separate rather than blurring them.
• This is unpasteurised and unheated, so it is not preserved. Keep it refrigerated, use clean bottles, drink it within three or four days, and discard it if it starts to fizz or smell fermented.
• Mature ginger is hotter and more fibrous; young ginger with pink-tipped skin is juicier and milder. For a fierce drink, use mature.
• Ginger is generally well tolerated, though very large quantities can irritate the stomach and an interaction with blood-thinning medication is sometimes noted — the evidence is limited and mostly concerns supplements. The atlas records that the question exists, makes no medical claim, and leaves it to a doctor.
• Gnamankoudji in Côte d’Ivoire is the same drink made fiercer, and versions are made across West and Central Africa. The atlas records the family and cross-references rather than repeating itself.

Substitutions

• Lime replaces lemon and is at least as common.
• Honey replaces sugar; stir it in cold so its aroma survives.
• Vanilla, mint or a little pineapple juice all soften and round the drink.
• A pinch of salt sharpens both the sweetness and the sourness.
• Sparkling water in place of some still water makes a fizzy version without fermenting.
• A concentrated syrup, diluted to order, keeps far longer than the finished drink.

Variations

• Gnamankoudji in Côte d’Ivoire is the fiercer, lemon-forward version of the same drink.
• A lightly fermented version, started with pineapple skin, becomes gently fizzy.
• Bissap or karkade, made from dried hibiscus, is the other great cold drink of the region.
• Baobab fruit drinks are made across the same belt.
• Caribbean ginger beer is the fermented relative, often much stronger.
• A version blended with pineapple juice is popular in several West African countries.

History

Blended with lemon and sold frozen in plastic sachets across Gambian markets, often alongside wonjo and baobab.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ginger juice?

Ginger juice is a drink from Central African Republic: sweet-spicy fresh ginger drink. Blended with lemon and sold frozen in plastic sachets across Gambian markets, often alongside wonjo and baobab.

How long does Ginger juice take to make?

Ginger juice takes 20 minutes plus steeping of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ginger juice?

Yes, within limits. Lime replaces lemon and is at least as common. Honey replaces sugar; stir it in cold so its aroma survives. Vanilla, mint or a little pineapple juice all soften and round the drink. A pinch of salt sharpens both the sweetness and the sourness. Sparkling water in place of some still water makes a fizzy version without fermenting. A concentrated syrup, diluted to order, keeps far longer than the finished drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ginger juice?

Stir until every grain has dissolved. Dissolve it in a little warm water first if it resists. Adjust it to your own taste. Add the lemon or lime juice. Taste and add more if it seems flat. Many recipes include it and many do not.