Sparkling Ginger Lemon Soda Food

LEMON-GINGER SODA

Steps:

• Blend ginger with 1/2 cup water until smooth. Strain, pressing on solids to yield 1/2 cup juice. Stir together ginger juice, lemon juice, and honey. Ginger base can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week. (It makes enough for 10 drinks.)
• Fill a glass with ice and add 2 tablespoons ginger base. Top with seltzer and garnish with a slice of ginger.

SPARKLING GINGER LEMONADE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, bring the water, honey and ginger to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and steep for 10 minutes. Strain, discarding ginger. Cool., Transfer to a pitcher; stir in soda and lemon juice. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint, if desired.

FRESH GINGER AND LEMON SODA

Steps:

• Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and use a wooden spoon to stir occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and set the simple syrup aside to cool for 5 minutes.
• In a blender jar, combine the ginger and sliced lemon; add the warm simple syrup and place a lid on the blender. Begin blending on the lowest speed until the ginger and lemon are roughly chopped, about 1 minute. Turn off the blender and let the ginger-lemon syrup steep for 10 minutes. Repeat, this time blending the ginger-lemon syrup on medium speed for 1 minute before turning the blender off and steeping for 10 minutes more.
• Strain the ginger-lemon syrup through a fine-meshed sieve lined with 2 layers of water-moistened cheesecloth, set over a medium bowl, using a rubber spatula to help push the mixture through.
• Fill a glass with ice, add 3/4 cup seltzer water. Top with ¼ cup ginger-lemon syrup and use the spoon to stir. Adjust the flavor with more ginger-lemon syrup or seltzer as needed. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
• The remaining ginger-lemon syrup can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

SPARKLING GINGER-LEMON SODA

Steps:

• Combine ginger and 2 quarts cold water in a large pot. Cut lemons in half and squeeze into pot, straining out pits. Drop lemon halves into pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover and let steep 30 minutes. Stir in honey, then taste for sweetness, adding more to taste. Strain mixture into a container and discard solids. Let cool to room temperature, then chill until very cold.
• Working in small batches, pour cold mixture into the bottle of a carbonator, filling it not more than 1/3 full (this will give the mixture room to foam). Charge with CO2 until very fizzy, waiting between charges for foam to subside completely. (This can take up to 2 minutes, so be patient.)
• Very slowly, as if opening a bottle of soda, release the bottle from the carbonator. Serve immediately, or cover tightly and chill. (Extra soda mixture can be refrigerated for up to a week, and can be served carbonated or flat.) To serve, pour over ice and top with a mint sprig. If desired, add a slug of rum to each glass.

SPARKLING GINGER-PLUM LEMONADE

Steps:

• Place the plums in a juice extractor, and process to extract all juice.
• Transfer the plum juice to a large pitcher, and stir in the lemon juice, ginger syrup, and seltzer. Fill pitcher with ice. Garnish with plum wedges, and serve.

SPARKLING GINGER LEMONADE

Steps:

• In small saucepan, bring the water, honey and ginger to a boil.
• Remove from the heat, cover and steep for 10 minutes.
• Strain, discarding ginger, cool.
• Transfer to a pitcher, stir in soda and lemon juice; serve immediately over ice.