BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Herbs Preparing Ginger

Hi Jennifer,

I see that your Healthy Hair Tea uses ginger and I've heard that ginger is also good to help digestion. My question is: what is the best way to prepare ginger to use in tea? I've crystalized it for biscotti and other baking but I don't think that would work well for a tea. Does ginger dry well in a food dryer, or is it better to buy it prepared already?

Thanks,

Hi, Ann,
It's always best to make a decoction when using a root, bark or other hard herb parts. That's to make sure all the herbal goodies get into the water.

To make a decoction, first grate the ginger root, then put one teaspoonful for each cup of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, then strain while still hot. (When you make an infusion, you pour boiling water over the herbs).

It's best to create the tea infusion and decoction separately, then you can mix the finished product.

Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Jennifer B.
Herbs Editor

Yes, that helps. Is ginger good by itself, or are there other herbs/roots that would make a good blend?

Hi, Ann,
If you really like the taste of ginger, then plain ginger tea will work for you! However, there are some good blends out there.
Here's a yummy recipe for "chai" made with milk, ginger and spices:

3 cups water
3 cups whole milk
3 TBS sugar
1 1/2 - 3 TBS grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons tea masala*
contents of 9 tea bags
1 TBS loose Indian tea
3 mint leaves (opt.)

Bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for about 2 minutes. Strain into a teapot, pitcher, or individual cups.

Oops... forgot to add:

To make tea masala, mix well together:
3 TBS ginger powder
1/2 TBS clove powder
1/2 TBS black pepper powder
1 TBS cinnamon powder
1 TBS cardamom powder