The ginger & kaffir lime leaf experiment

One of my favourite drinks is Rochester Ginger 'with the kick of two very angry mules'. It's basically a cordial but calling it that strips it of it's sophistication and it's zing.

When visiting my sister earlier this year I was unlucky enough to get a cold. Well, she had a cure for that. A ginger drink she made with her Vitamix. It was like drinking straight ginger! The shock to my taste buds aside it got my mind thinking. Years ago I had made ginger ale which was really nice and gingery but was seriously laborious in that I had to mince copious amounts of ginger. My sister had just removed the one deterrent for me. I could just throw it all in the Vitamix and let it do the mincing for me! So be aware that this recipe includes the use of a high powered blender

I started looking up recipes and found quite a few for ginger beer which I will one day attempt but for now it's a little too long in production for me to be bothered (yes, I am quite lazy really). But then I started looking up how to make ginger ale and ginger syrup. What follows is a step-by-step of how I got creative.

Recipe origin
Most recipes I found online were the same. Ginger, sugar, water, boil it all up and you have your ginger syrup. The variations was in the amount of sugar. 

Recipe evolution
I have been revisiting my love of kaffir lime leaves recently and wondered (as I do) if it would be nice with ginger for my ginger syrup experiment. I also figured that ginger and lemon go well together so why not include that. Also, I'm not that keen on using sugar where I can help it so surely I can use honey instead and a little less, maybe?

Following is an almost measure specific account of what I used.

• Three big ginger things (approx 275g)
• 1 lemon (peeled with as little of the white as possible, and juiced)
• a bunch of kaffir lime leaves (I think it was about 12 leaves?)
• Some water
• 1/4 cup of honey (or more to taste if you wish)

Method

• Chop the ginger into big sized chunks and throw into the Vitamix
• De-stalk the kaffir lime leaves and throw them in too
• Juice the lemon and pour into the Vitamix
• Fill with water so that the water level is two storeys of the ginger (if you know what I mean)
• Blend well (as only a high powered blender can do!)

• Pour the very fragrant mix into a saucepan, add the lemon peel and bring to the boil
• Drop the heat to a simmer party and let it do its thing for about 5 -10 minutes (the house smells spicy!)
• Add the honey, stirring to ensure it doesn't go to the bottom and simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes (basically reducing it)

• Strain your gingery liquid through a fine sieve over a container (preferably glass or ceramic)
• Let your liquid cool completely (note that the ginger liquid will be cloudy not clear - all the more gingery!)
• Pour your cooled ginger delight into a bottle or jar that you can tightly seal and chill in the fridge for at least an hour
• Crack open your homemade gingery goodness and make with it what you will!

Result
Well, I was after something not so sweet and really gingery - I achieved that for sure! I'm dissapointed but not surprised that I can't taste the kaffir lime leaf at all. With the ratio I had I guess I can't blame the kaffir lime leaves for not being able to be noticed amongst the bold and firey ginger. I can just taste the lemon which is enough to give it a twang. Predominately the experience is za za zing!

Verdict
Would I do it again? Probably. It could be good to do another batch but with lemongrass instead of kaffir lime leaves which has more of a chance in standing up to the firey personality of the ginger. I now have this ginger liquid so I'm going to try and see what I can do with it. I also have the ginger pulp which I think might be perfect to add to some stewed apple. I don't think I would bother with adding more honey as I was quite able to drink it with the minimal sweetening that it had. The less sugar I can do without the better!