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ginger in green tea

Posted: Feb 22nd, '12, 20:03
by tea.and.peace
Hi,
I wanted to try adding some ginger to green tea to see if I like it. Does anyone have experience with this? Most of the info I've found on internet about how to prepare the ginger. Is more conventional with 4 minute brews, etc.

My current set up with loose leaf green tea. I use a mason jar as my brewing vessel. Preheat tea ware. Brew tea at 160 degrees 1:30x2, 2:00x2, 2:30x2 for infusions. Pour vessel>tea cup. Is my basic brew method.

Any suggestions on how to incorporate ginger? Will these above brew times be enough for thin slices of ginger to steep in the infusions? Or should I do something different with the ginger. Looking for ideas before I bother taking the plunge. Perhaps it is a bad idea for loose leaf? Not sure.....

Re: ginger in green tea

Posted: Feb 22nd, '12, 21:21
by iannon
personally whenever i make a "ginger" type tea I usually boil the ginger for at least 10 minutes or so. Im not sure steeping it like you mentioned would work that well IMHO.

Re: ginger in green tea

Posted: Feb 24th, '12, 11:20
by chingwa
I've made it with Houjicha quite often, usually while I was sick, and sometimes add a bit of local un filtered honey. makes a good pick-me-up when you have a cold or sore throat.

Usually I would make the houjicha as usual and pur it over chopped pieces of ginger in a mug, let it sit for a bit covered before adding the honey. I'e also made it in a thermos on the go, and letting the ginger and houjicha steep together for hours... this makes quite a strong concoction but is good for when you're sick.

You could also try garlic, which has similar benefits to ginger, but a less pleasant aroma. :)

Re: ginger in green tea

Posted: Mar 3rd, '12, 21:38
by sencha
I don't think it'd hurt to try. Stash makes a bagged ginger peach green tea and it's delicious. Well.. it WAS delicious for a while, and then I got kind of sick of it.

Re: ginger in green tea

Posted: Mar 15th, '12, 16:07
by AlexZorach
You will get a radically different character if you use fresh ginger vs. dried ginger. Dried ginger imparts more body and less bite. I personally strongly prefer fresh ginger, in most cases, but fresh ginger is more likely to overwhelm. I find dried ginger goes better with more earthy, warming blends, whereas fresh ginger is good in fresher blends where you want some bite.

For dried ginger you can just add it powdered if you use a tea infuser, otherwise add pieces that filter out easiely.

For fresh ginger, I recommend cutting it up very thin, because ginger infuses slowly, especially in cooler water suitable for steeping green teas. Normally, when I brew up pure ginger to make an herbal tea, I boil it for an extended period of time. Because of the differences in optimal brewing, I find that, unless you really just want a hint of ginger, or unless you throw in a lot of it, you really need to slice the ginger up in very thin pieces, in order for it to infuse in a balanced way to have enough strength to hold its own with the green tea.

But I like a lot of ginger, keep that in mind!