Ginger beer

This recipe doesn’t require any home brewing or fermentation. A quick blitz of fresh ginger, honey, and lemon in the blender makes a really assertive base that goes so well with seltzer or sparkling wine. You could also combine the ginger mixture with boiling water rather than seltzer and serve hot (this is particularly soothing if you have a sore throat or a cold).

Ingredients

• One 2-inch piece ginger, coarsely chopped (no need to peel)
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup water
• 4 cups sparkling wine
• Ice, for serving

Procedure

1. Place the ginger, honey, lemon juice, and water in the jar of a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher and press down to extract all the flavour from the ginger (discard the contents of the sieve).
3. Stir the sparkling wine into the pitcher.
4. Fill four glasses with ice and divide the drink among them. Serve immediately.