Fresh ginger root served as a tea is a lovely folk remedy to aid digestion, relieve nausea, open sinuses, and help with headache pain. When I travel I actually take a knob of it with me in my bag just in case I experience any of those issues. If I am feeling perfectly fine, I still enjoy making a cup of tea or two to support my immune system from the stress of traveling and being on an airplane.
Like most folk remedies, there’s no single way to prepare fresh ginger tea. Recipes will vary from family to family, island to island, or even day to day depending what you have on hand. Some people slice the ginger into coins, others grate it like the way I like to make it at home.
When my husband was sick with a cold recently, I prepared him fresh ginger tea in the way I imagined his Trinidadian grandmothers would have made it—with a couple of cloves and a cinnamon stick. Feel free to use the recipe below as a base recipe and add to it spices such as cardamom pods, allspice, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, citrus, lemongrass, pineapple.…
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup *ginger root, grated (This is simply a rough estimate, use less or more depending how “spicy” you want it.)
4 cups water
honey to taste
METHOD
In a small saucepan add water and ginger. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Strain. Add honey to taste.
*I do not peel my organic ginger. I do, however, give it a good wash.