Today’s specials had to be related with how I feel. Which is awful! I caught a terrible cold, aggravated by the snowboarding session I had on Sunday. Therefore, during these past three days my life revolved around tea. I had an infinite number of teacups and I tried numerous flavours and herbal combinations. However, the best one, that besides its excellent taste, played also an important role in my well-being, was the ginger tea made with freshly grated ginger, orange peel, lemon and honey.
Ingredients (1 large mug – 2 cups of tea)
• Since the ginger taste is quite powerful, I used a small amount of fresh ginger (about 3 cm of a root) that I grated on the lemon zest grater.
• Three teaspoons of orange zest – I have it in my fridge in a mason jar preserved with sugar
• Two or three teaspoons of honey, depending on how sweet you like your tea (added after the tea cooled off a little)
• The juice of half a lemon
• Herbal tea, dried fruits tea, lemon juice (optional)
I put the ginger and orange zest in a mug and added boiling hot water. I covered the mug and left it for three minutes and after I strained the tea with a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the ginger with the back of a spoon to squeeze out all the liquid. I left it to cool for a couple of minutes and sitrred in the lemon juice and the honey.
You can add herbal tea or dried fruits for a better taste or even replace the orange zest with other fruits or with orange juice.
The effect was immediate. I felt a lot better after drinking it and after reading a little on this subject, I found out that besides ameliorating your cold symptoms, ginger tea has other benefits too. It helps warming and stimulating your circulation, ideal if you suffer from circulatory disorders (my hands and feet are always ice-cold, even during summer) or soothing and calming an upset stomach, nausea or travel sickness (I have been suffering from travel sickness since childhood). Right now, it sounds like the miracle drink for me… Why didn’t I discover it sooner?
Bonus: You can also serve it chilled, over ice for a refreshing drink.
