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My Dad used to make loads of ginger cordial in a bath!
He used to use a tiny bottle of concentrate and as far as I can remember just added sugar and boiling water!
Anyone know if you can still get the concentrate I am talking about and if so, where?
We used to have a glass of it before walking to school on frosty mornings and it warmed the cockles of your heart!

Hummm..used to make it many moons ago until the kids said it was too sweet!!
Am sure you can google it...ginger powder, yeast, sugar and water spring to mind- takes a couple of weeks I think??? Lovely stuff!!!

Tried googling to no avail Nicos!

I seem to remember Friar Tuck on sie of bottle!

Snadger - I have seen this in Sainsburys I think - can't remember the name of the company but these are with the other cordials and they come in ginger beer, elderflower and another one methinks. If you want a recipe for ginger beer, ginger wine and there is one for "kentish winter cordial" I can post them for you. Guess if you replaced the fruit in the cordial recipe with ginger it would work. DDL
PS I also have a recipe for beetroot beer! not sure about that one at all! LOL

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

I am fairly sure Rock's do a ginger cordial, although I seem to remember a company called Rochester or am I having a Jane Eyre moment?

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

I'll dig out my Marguerite Patten book to see if there is one in there.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Have a look at this thread Snadger. SBP posted a recipe.
Cordials
Happy drinking

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Thanks earthbabe, sounds like a warming recipe. I might give it a try but I would really like to source the ginger essence if I could, if not for anything else, for sentimental reasons! Taste from my childhood, many moons ago!

I remember it was a tiny bottle but used to make gallons of the finished product!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Do you think it will still be available Snadger? the stuff I've seen in sainsburys is good stuff. DDL

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Don't know about essence but I can tell you a lot about ginger essential oil

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

The one with ginger powder, yeast and sugar is for ginger beer. Good stuff, but not the same as cordial I think. We used to keep a ginger beer "plant" in a jar. Consisted of ground ginger, yeast and water. You feed it every day for a week with a teaspoonful of ginger and a teaspoon of sugar. After a week you strain it through muslin, and add lemon juice and water to the liquid. Can't remember the quantities. The sludge left in the muslin is divided in half, give one half away and put your half back into a jar with water and continue as above. The result is alcoholic, but not too strong. Anyone got the proper recipe?

I've checked in my Marguerite Patten book, ginger wine, beer, punch but no cordial. Sorry, I thought she at least would cover it.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Ginger beer is alcoholic???
To think I was brought up on the stuff....often made by my Methodist grandmother!!!!
Well that answers a lot then!!!
OH...and my kids too!!!!

It is if you leave it to ferment for long enough Nicos

YEAST + SUGAR = ALCOHOL. The fruits, veg, spices etc are just flavouring. Wild yeasts are everywhere, hence fallen wild fruits (which contain sugar) ferment with wild yeasts and you get all the animals and birds which eat them going slightly squiffy. To produce home made wine you obviously control the amount of yeast and sugar, but the whole process has been adapted from what happens naturally

Snadger my Granny used to make this too. I think it was from those little bottles of 'extract' you can get in any supermarket. You know. Vanilla , Orange, Almond etc

Snadger, I had a hunt around and I've got a recipe from my mother that asks for something called 'jamaica ginger' I think this is what you're looking for. As far as I can remember it came in one of those little bottles like essences and you could use it to flavour things. Stretching my memory, I think my mum used to make it with yeast in which case it would ferment and without when it sounds like your cordial.
I tried two health food shops today, in one I got a very blank look but in the other (a small independent one) the lady told me that you could only get it 'up North'. I'm going to see if I can track some down as I would like to have a go at the ginger beer. If I find any I'll let you know.