Ginger Concord Tea

It has been a busy weekend here at Scrimshaw Labs. Amongst the usual hustle bustle, I've invented a new beverage and and it's ready to be brought to the market.

I caught a cold last week and Manon kindly made me ginger tea with honey and lemon. It's fantastic stuff. (Some consider it to be the best cold and flu home remedy there is, others suggest avoiding sweeteners.)

Of course, when Manon came down with the same cold and I started getting better, I was obliged to make ginger tea for her. But you know me. I can't leave an ancient recipe alone. I have to mess with it.

Did you know that the southern-side of Ottawa homes provide a perfect microclimate for growing concord grapes? They do; and, every year at this time, the grapes at the ScrimChateau are ripe and ready for eating or being turned into grape jelly. Unfortunately, there is some sort of labour issue at the jelly factory and so I am having to find alternate uses for the grapes.

And one of these is now Ginger Concord Tea!

1. Cover the bottom of a pot with a layer of concord grapes, roughly two grapes thick.
2. Smush the grapes with a potato masher.
3. Grate a ginger root into the pot (the more ginger the better, for a 4-litre pot, I'd recommend using a root about the size of your hand.)
4. Fill the pot with water.
5. Bring the water to a boil.
6. Let the tea sit for a while.
7. Drink warm, luke warm or chilled.

Notes:

• You may quibble with my use of the term "invent", but nobody seems to have come up with it before me.
• The FAO says that ginger tea: "Improves digestion, energizes, relieves diarrhoea and stimulates appetite. Used for treating common colds, flu and nausea."
• And the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that concord grape juice "flavonoids are potent antioxidants that may protect against oxidative stress and reduce the risk of free radical damage and chronic diseases."
• The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that drinking regular tea is better for you than drinking water.
• Just about anything seems to be better than drinking carbonated soft drinks whether sweetened naturally or artificially.
• But I make no health claims for ginger concord tea. [For all I know, it may have a long list of possible side effects.]
• The only claim I make for ginger concord tea is that it tastes great.

Also see New Product: Ginger Concord Cubes