Ginger Beer Syrup

Stuck at home? Stupid question. Of course you are. Why? Coronavirus. If you aren’t… then you probably should be. We haven’t officially been locked down in Australia, but we should have been by now, so most of us are self isolating ourselves and our families anyway in a bid to flatten the curve.

Australian’s have always had a relaxed attitude to life which wasn’t any more obvious than the fact that we had a 35°C (95°F) day last week and Bondi Beach was filled with people recklessly swimming and sun-baking in close proximity to each other. My thoughts on how idiotic it was shall remain in my head because we are really only here for the recipes and not a ridiculously long intro.

Over the next few weeks/months (because who the hell knows how long we are going to be living like this), I am going to aim to bring you some recipes that will make your life at home a little easier. Now, I know all of you have an abundance of rice, pasta, flour, sugar, tomatoes, tuna etc because its all gone from the supermarket shelves, so lets together put some of that to good use.

Soon I’ll share my ultimate pantry pasta recipe for you. But first, its something to help take the edge off. My ginger beer syrup recipe which is super quick and easy to make, requires no fermentation, and when topped with soda water makes a fizzy ginger beer. Even better, top your fizzy ginger beer with dark spiced rum, makes a delicious Dark and Stormy cocktail. Let’s face it, we are all definitely drinking more as a result of our unending fear, stress and boredom. Or maybe its just me!

While you can make this recipe with any fresh ginger found at the store, I personally love to make this with young fresh ginger which yields a lighter & fresher tasting syrup. It also results in a beautiful blush colour and almost doesn’t even need to be peeled because its skin in so thin. The season for young ginger in Australia is now, so if you are stocking up on supplies for your shut in, grab some and make this ginger beer syrup!