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There are so many things that can be done with ginger root. It not only gives dishes and drinks a spicy pungency, but also brings a huge range of complex botanical flavors to them. But as a tincture or liqueur, ginger is the centerpiece of the composition, even if it is mixed into the most complex, most multi-ingredient cocktail. And to make a star out of him instead of a supporting actor is elementary. Just don’t skimp on quality ingredients and follow our recommendations.
Despite the expressiveness and pungency, which, with a proper weight of the root, can even make the most seasoned pepper or horseradish, alcoholic drinks based on fresh ginger root can be elegant and subtle. So elegant that most tasters won’t believe you made them yourself. And this is great, because paying more than $40 for the popular Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur (28% alcohol) and the equally popular and expensive King’s Ginger (41% alcohol) I consider it utterly stupid.
So, I suggest you cook, and then drink with pleasure these six amazing, time-tested, by me personally, domestic moonshiners and their foreign colleagues in the workshop, tinctures and liqueurs from fresh ginger root. Prepare to always have on hand a reliable remedy for colds and an impeccable cocktail ingredient.
Ginger tincture classic
The easiest dry but very savory drink to make, an ideal cocktail ingredient and a reliable “warming agent” (hunters and fishermen take note). The variability is only limited by your imagination. If yours is for someone else, just use one of the flavors I suggested, or a reasonable combination of them. Choose the amount of ginger for yourself: 50 grams will give a slightly spicy spicy taste, 150 g – hellishly spicy, warming up to the heels, but at the same time a drinkable tincture. 10-15 slices 0,5 cm thick are enough for me.
- 750 ml of vodka or brandy
- 50-150 g fresh ginger root
Flavors to choose from:
- 4-5 small pears like “Bere Bosk”
- 2 fragrant peaches
- 5-6 pcs. dried figs
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 1-2 cinnamon sticks
- 3-4 Carnation Bud
How to cook:
Peel the ginger, cut into “slices-coins” 0,5 cm thick and add to a jar of a suitable volume. If desired, add one or more (combine wisely!) pre-prepared flavors: pears (without seeds) and peaches (without pits) cut into slices, figs halved, cardamom lightly crushed with the flat of a knife, and cinnamon sticks roughly broken. Close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 1-2 weeks. Then strain, filter, let rest for 2-3 weeks and you can drink.
On a note! Peeling ginger with an ordinary teaspoon will make it much easier to navigate the bends and bumps in the root than using a knife.
Infusions are good for warming and in rare cocktails, but ginger liqueurs are better suited for a leisurely sip from a glass and complex mixes. There are quite a few of them, but only five have been verified by me personally or by my colleagues. The gingerbread hazelnut has become my favorite.
Ginger Nut Liqueur (made in Russia)
- 50 g fresh ginger root
- 500 ml of vodka or alcohol/moonshine 40-50%
- 100 g sugar (can be brown)
- ½ medium lemon
- 6 pcs. large walnuts (kernels only)
- 1 hours. L. vanilla sugar
- 50 ml water (optional)
How to do it:
Peel fresh ginger root, cut into small strips and throw into a jar of a suitable volume. Add zest from half a lemon without albedo, walnut kernels, vanilla and regular sugar. From sugar, you can first boil the syrup in 50 ml of water (this is not necessary, you just have to shake the jar daily so that the sugar is completely dissolved). You need to insist the liquor for 1-2 weeks in a dark, cool place, and then filter and bottle.
Nuts, by the way, acquire a very bright, unusual taste, so I recommend not throwing them away, but leaving them for desserts, pastries or snacks. You can also try to create something with ginger, here I rely on your imagination. This ginger liqueur is very delicate, with a pleasant ginger burning sensation and a complex citrus-vanilla aftertaste. Sugar may seem a little or a lot – adjust here for yourself.
On a note! The best thing you can do with this wonderful ginger nut liqueur is mix it 50/50 with full fat milk. When heated, a glass of such a “mocktail” eliminates even the most corrosive insomnia.
Ginger liqueur “Pikantny” on cognac
- 3 art. l. minced ginger root
- 240 g white sugar
- 120 g brown cane sugar
- 350 ml of pure water
- 3 button Gvozdik
- 1 tsp cardamom seeds
- 1 tsp grated orange peel
- 250 ml of vodka or alcohol 40-50%
- 120 ml cognac (any fruit brandy)
Technology:
Pour white and brown sugar into a saucepan, add water and bring to a boil. Add peeled, grated or finely chopped ginger root, cloves, cardamom and boil over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Strain the fragrant syrup through a sieve to get a liquid without solid residues. Pour it into a liter jar, add orange zest, diluted to 50% alcohol or vodka and cognac. Infuse the liquor in a dark, cool place for 3-4 weeks.
Strain the aged liquor and filter through cotton wool. Bottle and age for 1 more week minimum. The drink is very tasty, but there is not enough ginger in it (for my taste, I advise you to start with this amount), so it makes sense to use a little more root. It is better to cut it very finely so that during the cooking of the syrup, ginger gives off a maximum of taste and aroma. It is desirable to use the liquor within 1 year!
Video recipe of our friends from Dobrovar:
Ginger liqueur “Thorny chamomile”
Another one of my favourites. The rich ginger-chamomile-orange taste of the liquor goes well in a cup of evening tea, adds a little bit of burning in a glass of champagne and brings the piquant taste they need to many cocktails. Yummy!
- 100-150 g fresh ginger root
- 200-250 ml of pure water (required minimum for “tea”)
- 150 g aromatic honey
- 1 st. l. dried chamomile
- 1 vanilla pod or extract equivalent
- 1 large orange
- 750 ml of grape or fruit brandy
Preparation:
Peel the ginger, finely chop it into “slices-coins” 0,5 cm thick and add to a jar of a suitable volume. Add brandy (in extreme cases, replace with high-quality vodka; ideally, with inexpensive scotch) and insist in a dark, cool place for 1 week, shaking regularly. Then strain the infusion, and mix the remaining ginger in a saucepan with water and chamomile, bring to a boil and boil over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Ginger-chamomile tea cool to +35 оC, add honey and stir until it is completely dissolved.
Remove the zest from the orange, cut the vanilla lengthwise. Add the zest and vanilla to the flavored brandy, pour the tea sweetened with honey there without straining. Insist in a dark, cool place for another 1 week, then strain through a sieve or several layers of gauze, filter thoroughly and send to rest in clean bottles for 2-3 weeks. Consume within 1 year!
On a note! Ginger pairs well with vanilla flavors, which is why most ginger recipes include the vanilla bean as the most subtle and natural source of these flavors. Feel free to replace it with vanilla sugar or homemade vanilla extract. For an extract recipe and recommendations for interchangeability of ingredients, see Kalua Coffee Liqueur, which focuses on vanilla. Do not use vanillin – it is too chemical and often conflicts with other components in drinks!
Ginger liqueur on alcohol “Cocktail”
An interpretation of the previous recipe, but simpler. It is more expressive than most commercial ginger liqueurs, and therefore economical – for most cocktails, 15-20 ml of our drug will be enough to add a spicy spice to them. When using 75% alcohol, we get a drink with a strength of about 35%.
- 100-150 g fresh ginger root
- 1 vanilla pod or extract equivalent
- 600 g sugar
- 600 ml of water
- 750 ml alcohol 75%
Technology:
Peel the ginger, cut into small strips and transfer to a jar of a suitable volume. Add the vanilla pod cut lengthwise, alcohol and leave for 24 hours. Take out the vanilla and let the drink stand in a dark, cool place for another 7-10 days (or longer for a more pronounced ginger taste). Strain, filter and add cooled simple syrup, boiled from equal parts of sugar and water. Allow the liquor to rest for 2-3 weeks before mixing the perfect cocktail. Consume within 1 year!
Liqueur “Ginger citrus” with lemon and honey
This is one of those liqueurs that should always be present in every home. In the season of colds and flu, it will be a good prevention against these ailments, strengthen the immune system and, if necessary, quickly put you on your feet. In the summer, it will become a bright cocktail ingredient, for example, in the flawless Moscow Mule or as an alcoholic component of homemade lemonade. You can make Ginger Citrus liqueur all year round, but we recommend doing it today – the drink needs a lot of time to prepare and relax!
- 100 g fresh ginger root
- 2 lemons or limes
- 100 g sugar (can be brown)
- 3 art. l. fragrant honey
- 350 ml alcohol 70% or 500 ml vodka
- 400 ml water (alcohol only)
Instructions for liquor on alcohol:
Peel the ginger, cut into small strips and transfer to a jar of a suitable volume. Pour boiling water over lemons, rub with a hard towel, and then remove the zest without bitter subcutaneous, albedo. Add zest to ginger. From sugar and water, boil a simple syrup, sue up to +35 оC, dissolve honey in it and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemons there. Pour the syrup into a jar of ginger, add vodka, mix thoroughly and leave in a dark, cool place for 2 months. You can shake the liqueur from time to time. Then strain, filter, let rest for 2-3 months and you can drink.
Instructions for liqueur on vodka:
Peel the ginger, cut into small strips and transfer to a jar of a suitable volume. Rinse the lemons, grate and cut into eighths. Add lemons to ginger, add all the other ingredients there, close the jar tightly, mix thoroughly and leave in a dark, cool place for 1-3 months. Periodically, in order to dissolve all the sugar, the contents of the jar must be shaken. Then strain, filter, let rest for 2-3 months and you can drink. Due to lemon juice, the drink will quickly degrade in taste, oxidize, so it is better to drink it no later than 6 months after filtering.
Several cocktails with ginger liqueur
If ginger tincture makes a good substitute for vodka, i.e. the alcohol base of a cocktail, ginger liqueur is a surprisingly complex sweetener that will add a little bit of savory heat and depth to mixed drinks. Recipes will reference homemade imitation ingredients.
Penicillin cocktail
- 2 tsp liquid honey
- 15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 20 ml scotch with Islay
- 20 ml blended scotch
- 15 ml of ginger liqueur
Stir honey with lemon juice in a shaker until completely dissolved, shake with ice with the rest of the ingredients. Fine strain in an old fashion glass with ice.
The Opening Act Cocktail
- 60 ml of ginger liqueur
- 15 ml of Campari bitters
- 15 ml fresh lime juice
- 1 dessert bitter Angostura
- tonic
Shake the first four ingredients with ice, strain into a collins glass with ice. Top up with tonic and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Cocktail “Rusty Button” / Rusty Tack
- 60 ml scotch whiskey
- 15 ml Drambuie liqueur
- 15 ml of ginger liqueur
Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into an old fashion glass with ice.
Cocktail “My last word” / Mon Dernier Mot
- 40 ml of cognac
- 20 ml of ginger liqueur
- 20 ml yellow Chartreuse
- 20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
Shake with ice, fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon zest.
Cocktail “Oooh ginger!” /Oooh Ginger
- 60 ml tequila milk
- 20 ml of ginger liqueur
- 15 ml dry vermouth
Stir with ice, fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon zest.
Ginger is a versatile root. Keeps warm in winter, helps to endure heat in summer. With it, it is easy to overcome a cold and cheer up. And scientists have proven that ginger reduces the risk of stroke. In general, tinctures and liqueurs based on ginger are not only tasty, but also somewhat healthy. Of course, if you know the measure.
Know when to stop and read The Rum Diary!