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Lemon Ginger Cup
For an individual portion of this very refreshing beverage, place in a tall glass 4 tablespoons of cold tea, the juice of one-half lemon, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and two or three bits of preserved ginger. Stir well, mix in 2 tablespoons finely cracked ice, and fill up the glass with iced ginger ale. Add a thin slice of lemon and cap with a tiny bouquet of fresh mint.
A straightforward summer cooler built in the glass, with no step that needs updating. A few of the quantities and ingredients are worth pinning down.
- Preserved gingerThis means stem ginger in heavy syrup, sold in jars or tubs, not crystallized ginger rolled in sugar and not fresh root. Crystallized will work but adds noticeable extra sweetness; fresh ginger will not, as it has no syrup and reads harsh in a cold drink.
- Dial back the sugarTwo tablespoons of sugar plus ginger syrup plus sweetened ginger ale is very sweet by current taste. Start with one tablespoon, or a tablespoon of the syrup from the ginger jar, and adjust.
- Dissolve before you chillGranulated sugar dissolves slowly in cold tea, and once ice is in the glass it will tend to settle at the bottom. The recipe's own 'stir well' comes before the ice for that reason: work the sugar into the tea and lemon juice thoroughly first, or substitute simple syrup.
- The teaThe recipe says only 'cold tea', and does not specify type or strength. Four tablespoons is a small amount for a tall glass, so a strong-brewed tea, cooled, will carry further than a weak one.
- Cracked iceFinely cracked ice melts fast and dilutes as it goes. If you use cubes instead, the drink stays sharper but will not soften over the same few minutes.
- Ginger aleGinger ale of this period came in more than one style, including drier pale versions and sweeter, more strongly gingered ones; many mass-market brands today are sweeter and milder than either. A dry ginger ale, or ginger beer if you want more bite, is a reasonable choice.
- YieldOne tall glass, roughly 10 to 12 ounces. Scale by the glass rather than batching, since the ale will go flat.
Ginger ale as a bottled soft drink became widely available in North America in the decades either side of 1900. The bones of the recipe are the familiar tea punch of the period — strong cold tea, lemon, sugar — lengthened with a carbonated mixer rather than the wine or spirits an earlier punch might have carried. Preserved ginger in syrup reached Western kitchens through the China trade, and appears in cookbooks of this era used as much for garnish and sweetening as for eating on its own. The mint bouquet and the lemon slice are presentation rather than flavour.