Enjoy the delicious warmth of a cup of homemade ginger tea any time of day or night with two easy methods for making it and five variations to try!
Sipping on a hot cup of tea is a simple, soothing way to relax and rejuvenate any time of day or night. That’s why you’ll often find me with a mug in hand, especially during the colder months. But my favorite teas to brew at home are actually not teas at all but infusions or tisanes since they contain no actual tea leaves.
Not using tea leaves means no caffeine, which means you can sip on a cup throughout the day and evening without any jitters or sleep disruptions. And one of the easiest homemade infusions to make is a fresh ginger tea.
Ginger root tea’s delightfully spicy and tongue tingling flavor warms you from the inside out and also has a long history of uses (source) that go beyond just soothing upset stomachs, so it’s a good one to have in your repertoire. Yes you could buy a sachet of dried tea but it won’t have the same vibrant taste as the homemade kind which is thankfully nearly as easy to make. With just a small amount of ginger root, water and the sweetener of your choice you can make your own full-flavored homemade ginger tea.
Ingredient Notes:
(Here are a few notes about the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. As always find the full list of ingredients and directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Ginger – For the most flavorful tea you’ll need fresh ginger not dried. You can find fresh ginger root near the fruit and vegetable section of most grocery stores.
- Water – Use filtered water for the cleanest taste.
- Sweetener – Use your sweetener of choice. Honey is nice but you can also use a few drops of stevia for a sugar-free version.
- Optional Flavors – Once you have your basic ginger tea try flavoring it with lemon juice, orange juice, cinnamon, turmeric, fennel or mint. I’ve listed the ginger tea variations below.
Tips for Making the Best Ginger Tea:
The trick to making the best ginger tea is to grate your ginger in order to obtain the greatest amount of flavor by extracting the most juice and maximizing the surface area of the ginger that comes in contact with the water while infusing. Recipes that call for simply slicing ginger into coins often result in a weak tea or require long infusing times.
There are two ways to grate ginger for ginger tea:
- The first is to simply use a box grater or a microplane. Peeling the ginger first makes this easier to do.
- The second is simply to pop a piece of ginger into the blender along with your water and pulse until blended. This way doesn’t require any peeling and is even easier than the first method.
How to Make Ginger Tea:
- Start by grating your ginger with either method listed above.
- The next step is to bring the ginger and water to a simmer then maintain it a bare simmer for a few minutes (3-5 depending on how strong you want your tea) to extract the most flavor from the ginger. It’s at this stage that you can add in your optional flavorings (see below).
- Once you’re done infusing simply strain, pour and sweeten with your favorite sweetener and you are ready to sip!
Ginger Tea Variations:
- Ginger Lemon Tea (my favorite): Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and a slice of lemon to cup after straining. Sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Cinnamon Orange Tea: Simmer a ¼ stick of cinnamon along with the ginger, strain and add 1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice to cup. Sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Turmeric Tea: Add ½ inch piece of fresh grated turmeric to simmer along with ginger, strain and add 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. Sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Fennel Tea: Add ¼ teaspoon dried fennel seeds along with ginger to simmer, strain and sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Mint Tea: Add 1 Tablespoon lightly crushed mint leaves (crushing the mint helps release the oils) to simmer along with the ginger, strain and sweeten to taste.
More Tea Recipes:
How to Make Ginger Tea
How to make your own homemade fresh ginger tea with two easy methods to choose from and 5 variations to try.
Ingredients
- 1-inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1 ½ cups/360ml filtered water
- Lemon slices for serving (optional)
- Sweetener of choice to taste
Instructions
Method 1:
- Peel and grate ginger on a microplane or box grater, combine with water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Maintain mixture at a bare simmer for 3-5 minutes, then strain tea through a fine mesh strainer into cup and add lemon slices if desired.
- Serve hot with sweetener of choice to taste.
- For ginger tea variations see notes below.
Method 2:
- Place washed and scrubbed ginger into blender along with the water and pulse until well chopped. Pour mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Maintain mixture at a bare simmer for 3-5 minutes, then strain tea through a fine mesh strainer into cup and add lemon slices if desired.
- Serve hot with sweetener of choice to taste.
- For ginger tea variations see notes below.
Notes
Ginger Tea Variations:
- Ginger Lemon Tea (my favorite): Add 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and a slice of lemon to cup after straining. Sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Cinnamon Orange Tea: Simmer a ¼ stick of cinnamon along with the ginger, strain and add 1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice to cup. Sweeten
to taste. - Ginger Turmeric Tea: Add ½ inch piece of fresh grated turmeric to simmer along with ginger, strain and add 1 teaspoon fresh lemon
juice. Sweeten to taste. - Ginger Fennel Tea: Add ¼ teaspoon dried fennel seeds along with ginger to simmer, strain and sweeten to taste.
- Ginger Mint Tea: Add 1 Tablespoon lightly crushed mint leaves (crushing the mint helps release the oils) to simmer along with the ginger, strain and sweeten to taste.
How to Peel Ginger:
- Method 1: (easiest): wash and dry your ginger and use a spoon to scrape the skin off.
- Method 2: wash and dry your ginger, cut away any small exterior knobs and use a vegetable peeler to peel the skin.
Method 3: wash and dry your ginger and use a small paring knife to peel the skin cutting off any small knobs that cannot easily be peeled.
Notes:
Increase the quantities listed and make a big batch of tea to store in the fridge and re-heat as needed or serve over ice for an iced tea.
You’ll find fresh ginger in the produce section of the supermarket. Look for firm pieces with
shiny unwrinkled skin.
Store fresh unpeeled ginger in a re-sealable bag or air-tight container in the crisper drawer of your fridge.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
1Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 15Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 16mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
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