This last month it's been back to back coughs and colds in our house - as soon as one of us recovers another goes down with it, so I thought now would be a good time to share a warming honey, lemon and ginger tea recipe! As a child, I can't think of being ill without thinking of two things - our food of choice toast and marmite (we'd eat nothing but toast and marmite for days on end whenever we came down with any kind of illness) and our drink of choice honey and lemon, always made from scratch by my lovely Mum, and always the best thing to pep us up, even when we were feeling at our most pathetic!
According to my mum, the honey was to sooth our sore throats, the lemon was to give us a boost of vitamin C to fight off the cold and a spoonful of sugar was to get us looking a bit more lively - and it worked, in fact it still does, I've been living off the stuff as I've battled an extra-nasty cold for the last few weeks! I've made one change to my Mum's recipe though - the addition of a little ginger. I discovered a few years ago that ginger does amazing things for soothing a cough - I don't know what the science behind it is, but it helps so much, especially at night when a cough is keeping you awake.
I've also tweaked the original family recipe to use Manuka honey, which is said to have special medicinal and anti-bacterial properties. I was sent some Manuka honey by Rowse and asked to develop a drink recipe using the honey, and it arrived at the perfect time for our coughing and sneezing little family!
Honey, Lemon and Ginger Tea
Ingredients:
- 1 Lemon (or 2 tbs lemon juice)
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp Rowes Manuka Honey
- 1 tsp sugar
Method:
First pop the kettle on and boil up some water. While you're waiting for the kettle to boil, slice your lemon in half and cut off a round slice from the middle to garnish the drink. Squeeze the rest of the lemon and pour the juice into a large mug, taking care to remove the lemon seeds.
Add the ginger to the lemon juice and stir well to combine. Add the Manuka Honey and sugar, then top up the cup with boiling water and stir well.
You might want to taste the drink and tweak it to suit your tastes at this point - adding a little more of one or other of the ingredients until it tastes just the way you like it.
Cut the round slice of lemon in half and pop it on the top of the drink. You can also add a slice or two of fresh ginger if you have some to hand.
Drink straight away and feel better soon!
This drink is perfect for the whole family, although be aware than children under the age of 12 months should not have honey. Be sure to let it cool down to a suitable temperature before giving to a child.
Grace
Disclosure: This recipe and blog post was commissioned by Rowse as part of the #RealManuka campaign. I was compensated for the cost of ingredients and my time, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own. I have no affiliation to Rowse.
Honey, Lemon and Ginger Tea
Ingredients
- 1 Lemon (or 2 tbs lemon juice)
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp Rowes Manuka Honey
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- First pop the kettle on and boil up some water. While you're waiting for the kettle to boil, slice your lemon in half and cut off a round slice from the middle to garnish the drink. Squeeze the rest of the lemon and pour the juice into a large mug, taking care to remove the lemon seeds.
- Add the ginger to the lemon juice and stir well to combine. Add the Manuka Honey and sugar, then top up the cup with boiling water and stir well.
- You might want to taste the drink and tweak it to suit your tastes at this point - adding a little more of one or other of the ingredients until it tastes just the way you like it.
- Cut the round slice of lemon in half and pop it on the top of the drink. You can also add a slice or two of fresh ginger if you have some to hand.
- Drink straight away
Charlie @ The Kitchen Shed says
Mmmmm! Rowes honey is my favourite! I haven't tried the Manuka yet though so will definitely give it a try!