10 cups water
12 oz fresh ginger, finely chopped
¼ cup light brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime
One bay leaf

Bring the water to a boil; turn off heat and add the ginger and bay leaf. Cover the pot and let steep for no less than four hours, or overnight. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth, squeezing and pressing to express the last, very flavorful drops of liquid from the ginger. Add the sugar and the lime juice, stir, bottle, and refrigerate. This is a rather strong syrup, you probably won’t want to drink it straight. Instead, try mixing equal parts of the ginger elixir and soda water to create a spicy carbonated ginger beer. For ginger ale try for more of a 4:1 ratio.

Try to use the ginger elixir within two weeks. The ginger’s flavor degrades rapidly, so it’s best to make smaller batches, if you don’t plan to use that much of it.

Recipe thanks to Lucy Graves

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