Homemade Ginger Syrup, Yes Please!

As I write this in Chicago, we are entering week four of our coronavirus pandemic lockdown.  It is also the week that I reluctantly decided I needed to give myself a haircut.  I mention that to make the point that I am acutely aware that do-it-yourself is not always better.  Having said that, making your own ginger syrup is easy, and the results are so good. It packs a punch of flavor and can be used in martinis, cocktails, or when used with soda water, can be a superior replacement for ginger beers or ginger ales.  For me, using ginger syrup in a Moscow Mule was game changing, you can read about that here.

Another benefit of a DIY syrup is that you can control the quality of the ingredients and modify to your personal tastes/needs.  Controlling the amount of sugar in a syrup is a key benefit here.  If you are trying to limit your sugar intake, making your own syrup allows you to cut the sugar going into the syrup, allowing you to keep all of the ginger flavor when making a drink, but reducing the sugars.  For this recipe, I recommend you cut the sugar in half for a ‘lighter’ version.

If you haven’t cooked or worked with ginger root before, it can be a bit tricky at the start.  It is a root, that in order to get to the good stuff, you need to peel the outer skin.  That’s the tricky part, since the shape of ginger root is all over the place with knots and nooks and crannies.  According to every cooking show I’ve ever watched they recommend using a spoon to peel off the outer layer.  Using the edge of the spoon and scraping the brown outer layer and exposing the cream-colored center.  This can be a bit tedious, but it’s not hard.  The good news is that you are not eating this ginger, you are using it to infuse its flavor into a syrup, so you don’t have to be perfect here, just get the bulk of the outer layer off.

Your goal here is to end up with about 1 ½ cups of chopped ginger.  I typically use about 3 big chunks of ginger root.  Ginger is fibrous so a food processor is the perfect tool for getting a good chop.  I have also used a box grater, which works too, but takes some effort, and doesn’t produce as fine of a chop.  It is important to prepare the ginger first because you’ll need it in the next step.

Once the ginger is ready, heat 10-12 oz. of water and 1 ½ cups of sugar together over low heat.  Once the sugar has fully dissolved, remove the pot from heat and add the chopped ginger.  Add a teaspoon of ground ginger, give a quick stir to combine and then cover the pot with a lid or plastic wrap.  You want to use the residual heat to help kick-start the infusion of the ginger flavor into the syrup.  Let this hang out until completely cooled.

Once this has cooled, transfer the mixture to a sealable glass jar to sit in the fridge for about 24 hours.  Don’t rush it here.  You want that great punch of ginger flavor, so you need to give it time to do its thing.  I should also note that the mixture at this point doesn’t look pretty, especially if you grated and chopped some of this by hand.  Not to worry, the ginger pulp gets strained out in the next step.

After a day in the fridge, strain out the ginger pulp and add 2 oz of fresh lemon juice.  You won’t taste the lemon in the syrup, but it does add to the brightness of the flavor.  It helps the ginger have a sharper ginger taste.  Use a funnel to pour the syrup in a sealable bottle and keep this in the fridge.  This will make about 16 oz. and like most syrups will keep in the fridge for a month.  My first batch of this was such a hit that I immediately regretted not making a double.  There will be sediment with this syrup, so you’ll need to give it a good shake before using.