Sorry for the lack of posts here. I’ve been feeling kind of awful – washing down gravol with ginger ale, that sort of thing. (And no, I’m not pregant.) But I have learned something very important that I will share with you. Are you ready for this?
There are different kinds of ginger ale.
Maybe this isn’t so shocking to you, but I had no idea.
Admittedly, my knowledge of soft drinks and sparkling beverages in general is limited to the tonic water I drink with gin and lime. I have found Canada Dry and Schweppes ginger ales to be big doses of sugar with very little effect on my nausea. A few days ago, I tried to make my own ginger ale by boiling down some fresh ginger and water sweetened with agave nectar and adding it to sparkling water. It didn’t really work. In researching how to quickly make a ginger ale-like drink, I came across an a “recipe” that called for mixing cola with sprite (Ta-da! It’s the color of ginger ale!). Not really what I had in mind.
In any case, I do recommend these four ginger ales that are significantly more gingery and less sugary:
Santa Cruz Organic Ginger Ale, here. Although these are all good, this one is my favorite. It is pleasantly spicey and incredibly soothing.
Bottle Green Lemongrass & Ginger Sparkling Pressé , here
Blue Sky Jamaican Ginger Ale, here
Boylan Bottleworks Ginger Ale, here
Any of the above make an ideal gift for an ill loved one. I would know, as Ryan has been buying me samplings of each. So sweet!
For those of you with little or no interest in ginger ales (if that’s even possible!), I will have some more interesting, less nausea-related posts up over the next few days.
HOPE YOU FEEL WELL SOON. THANKS FOR THE INFO. FOUR KIDS LATER, I HAD NO IDEA.
HUGS FROM MAINE
I love ginger ale, too – but sometimes there is nothing available here but Canada Dry which is not very good. I don’t think cola and lemon-lime drink will make ginger ale, but I do know that there is a very strong ginger tea available from Traditional Medicinals that you can brew up double strength and dilute it with sparkling water/club soda and it is very close to ginger ale. The stronger you brew the tea, the better it is.
LOOOOVe ginger ale. It’s sort of a hobby with me, trying different ginger aies. Blenheims will take the top of your head off! But it’s lovely for mixing with lemonade.
I’ve had to go through this SAME debacle recently….except, in my case, I am pregnant, and for the wellbeing of my better-half, I needed good ginerale. My favorite is the Diet Hansen’s Gingerale, which you can find easy at Trader Joe’s.
just found this old post and thought I’d share. I have a new favorite ginger ale – and it’s alcoholic! A local chicago distillery is now making an Organic Ginger Liquer. They use 60 lbs of hand peeled ginger for each 10 gallon batch. It is incredible! In a glass with a few ice cubes and a splash of club soda an you have the most refreshing ginger ale in the world (with just 20% alcohol!)
http://www.koval-distillery.com/products/liqueurs/ginger-liqueur
Hello! Found your site through the NYT article and had to comment as i am addicted to Ginger ale. Get terrible headaches and this always makes me feel a little more normal.
Reeds brand is great. I can find it at whole Foods ($ marked up), Kroger (like Ralphs, etc) and Trader Joes here in Atlanta.
http://www.reedsgingerbrew.com (I’m not affiliated with them in any way – just love the stuff).
There is a version sweetened with pineapple juice. And an Extra Ginger flavor – just wonderful!!