Ginger Cordial?

[pickledtink]

Snadger my Granny used to make this too. I think it was from those little bottles of 'extract' you can get in any supermarket. You know. Vanilla , Orange, Almond etc

[blackkitty]

Snadger, I had a hunt around and I've got a recipe from my mother that asks for something called 'jamaica ginger' I think this is what you're looking for. As far as I can remember it came in one of those little bottles like essences and you could use it to flavour things. Stretching my memory, I think my mum used to make it with yeast in which case it would ferment and without when it sounds like your cordial.
I tried two health food shops today, in one I got a very blank look but in the other (a small independent one) the lady told me that you could only get it 'up North'. I'm going to see if I can track some down as I would like to have a go at the ginger beer. If I find any I'll let you know.

[Snadger]

Happy ending!!!!!!!!!!

It took me three years but I've found the damm stuff right on my doorstep!

When I couldn't find any I bought some off eBay but it arrived with the contents absorbed into the wrapping. Returned the empty bottle at my own cost and finally got a useable bottle.
This was a couple of months ago and I haven't bothered since because of the exorbitant cost!...............until now!

Was passing a health food shop situated in the local Tesco's hypermarket when I noticed an A4 leaflet stuck to the window ................................! GINGER WINE CONCENTRATE ON SALE HERE!

Quick as a flash I was in the shop and bought two bottles of RIDDLE'S Ginger Compound.......one extra HOT and one at normal strength!

The cost was £1.79 a bottle and just in case its only a Christmas offer, and realising it has a date stamp of 2012, decided I will go back for more soon!

[Hilary B]

My Dad used to make loads of ginger cordial in a bath!
He used to use a tiny bottle of concentrate and as far as I can remember just added sugar and boiling water!
Anyone know if you can still get the concentrate I am talking about and if so, where?
We used to have a glass of it before walking to school on frosty mornings and it warmed the cockles of your heart!

My Mum made a similar drink (known in that teetotal house as 'ginger wine') but the concentrate was made up by the chemist, and some of the ingredients are very hard to get hold of.

The dark colour came from 'burnt sugar' and these days I burn the sugar in the microwave, add the essence of ginger, essence of capsicum, lemon (juice and flavour extracted from rind) with the sugar, then add lots of hot water If the mix is right, it then smells wonderful, and you top up with cool water and bottle it!
My bottle of essence of capsicum is running low and I don't know whether I will be able to get any more!

[pipscariad]

Oo, Snadger, this post has had me on a real nostalgia trip - my mum used to make Friar Tuck ginger cordial too, 'twas lovely! I'd forgotten all about it. I'll have to see if I can track down some of the Riddles stuff, I'd love to try it.

Seem to remember that it was pretty hot stuff - we used to have 'nips' of it from a little bottle when we were trogging about in the snow (we lived in a really isolated spot in the middle of the North Yorkshire moors, and seemed to spend a lot of time doing this in the winter, with loaded packs of supplies on our backs! Child Line 'ud be called out these days... but I loved it really!).

Off to hunt it out now....

[erob666]

ginger beer... not ginger cordial

Tried googling to no avail Nicos!

I seem to remember Friar Tuck on sie of bottle!

I think what you're referring to is actually ginger beer, not cordial. I cordial is usually made by boiling and preserving something in enough sugar to stop it from going mouldy whereas ginger beer is prepared by fermenting powdered ginger with yeast and sugar (someimes you might have added a little lemon zest, bream of tatar etc). A sort of fake ginger beer still lives on in British pubs but has no alcohol (or ginger by the taste of it). Real ginger beer is very mildly alcaholic and has a tendency to explode in the cupboard under the stairs when the vicar is round having cucumber sandwiches.

If you want a full recipe, I can dig out my grandfather's one

[Snadger]

I think what you're referring to is actually ginger beer, not cordial. I cordial is usually made by boiling and preserving something in enough sugar to stop it from going mouldy whereas ginger beer is prepared by fermenting powdered ginger with yeast and sugar (someimes you might have added a little lemon zest, bream of tatar etc). A sort of fake ginger beer still lives on in British pubs but has no alcohol (or ginger by the taste of it). Real ginger beer is very mildly alcaholic and has a tendency to explode in the cupboard under the stairs when the vicar is round having cucumber sandwiches.

If you want a full recipe, I can dig out my grandfather's one

It WAS ginger cordial I was on about, but I DO remember the pop man delivering ginger beer in large pottery flagons!

[Jeanied]

Hi Snadge - just popped in to offer this one: from Granny's home made wines, syrups and cordials book from the 1950s.
Lemon ginger syrup
2oz root ginger
white sugar
1 quart water
1 lemon
bruise ginger and put in saucepan with water and thinly sliced lemon rind. Bring to boil and simmer gently for 45 minutes, making good any water boiled away. Strain and to every pint of liquid add 1lb of sugar and the juice of one lemon. Bottle and seal.
Put a tablespoon of syrup in a tumbler and fill up with hot or iced water as required.

There are also two recipes for ginger cordial - one which calls for essence of ginger and the other one uses tincture of ginger, orange and capsicum - let me know if you want me to post those as well.

[Jeanied]

Or you could try this stuff from 'The Laird's Larder' if you are too posh to push.

Harold Jobson & Ptnrs Ginger Wine Essence, 50ml

Looking at the ingredients it could be more interesting to source the tinctures and make your own - which are available online. I'll put the recipe up if you want it.

[Hilary B]

Or you could try this stuff from 'The Laird's Larder' if you are too posh to push.

Harold Jobson & Ptnrs Ginger Wine Essence, 50ml

Looking at the ingredients it could be more interesting to source the tinctures and make your own - which are available online. I'll put the recipe up if you want it.

I can't find the capsicum essence any more, although I have hopes of discovering some somewhere by next Christmas.

[Jeanied]

Granny's recipe uses capsicum tincture - not sure what the difference between tincture and essence is - you can get the former here
Baldwins Capsicum ( Capsicum Annuum ) Herbal Tincture | Herbal Tinctures A-C | Herbal Tinctures | G. Baldwin and Co. | Herbalist UK

[Snadger]

I can't find the capsicum essence any more, although I have hopes of discovering some somewhere by next Christmas.

Chuck a couple of chilli peppers in it!

[Hilary B]

Thanks for that Jeanied. Keeping that handy!
It looks like the stuff I used to be able to get from the chemist. It lasts ages, but my supply is getting low!
I use 30ml of the Capsicum tincture (or essence, the names sometimes seem interchangeable, although there is meant to be a difference)
15ml of ginger essence
burnt sugar made from about 75g sugar
rind and juice of a lemon
1kg sugar (the 'burnt' bit comes out of that 1kg bag)
at least a gallon of water (most years I get 6 litres out of this).
The end result is to be drunk in small measures (some prefer it diluted with lemonade). Non-alcoholic (unless you store it too long) but got a 'kick' like whisky!

[sarraceniac]

You can make your own ticture of capsicum to your own taste. Tinctures simply use alcohol as the solvent (for example the old, stings like the blazes disinfectant, tincture of iodine is just iodine dissolved in surgical spirit. The best one is obviously vodka because that has very little other flavouring in it. To make the alcohol (or vinegar if you have moral or religious objections to alcohol) base is quite complex but this site explains it: 3 Reasons For Alcohol In Tinctures

I think the amateur way would be just to use chilli vodka with loads of chillies in it. For drinking do not use surgical spirit. But you knew that.

[binley100]

The one with ginger powder, yeast and sugar is for ginger beer. Good stuff, but not the same as cordial I think. We used to keep a ginger beer "plant" in a jar. Consisted of ground ginger, yeast and water. You feed it every day for a week with a teaspoonful of ginger and a teaspoon of sugar. After a week you strain it through muslin, and add lemon juice and water to the liquid. Can't remember the quantities. The sludge left in the muslin is divided in half, give one half away and put your half back into a jar with water and continue as above. The result is alcoholic, but not too strong. Anyone got the proper recipe?

I have . I'll post it on the receep thread.