instant ginger tea

Ginger root is an indispensable ingredient in my kitchen, but you won't find any in my refrigerator. Like the world outside my door, it is in a state of deep freeze. 
Freezing fresh ginger root not only preserves it (no more tossing out shriveled, forgotten nobs), it makes it user friendly. Good riddance to the days of scrubbing it against a porcelain grater, then picking out the stringy fibers. Now, when I want fresh ginger flavor, I quickly microplane the frozen rhizome directly on food; the gratings (fibers and all) are as fine as snow, and the rest goes back in the freezer. When I want fresh ginger juice, I pull a nob or two from the freezer and let it thaw. The softened rhizome can then be easily squeezed and readily releases its juice.

Ginger has long been known to possess many health benefits that range from settling an upset tummy to fighting off colds and flu— the reason why I routinely drink ginger tea in winter. I used to have a ritual of squeezing thawed ginger into hot water, then stirring in honey, but that changed when I found these packets of ginger-honey crystals at an Asian market. I've tried other ginger teas, but found they lacked the mouth-numbing fieriness that I love about fresh ginger. These crystals don't; they contain only three ingredients: cane sugar, honey, and ginger, and they dissolve instantly in hot or cold liquids. Sometimes I forego the liquid entirely and eat them out of hand, but today, with the snow piling up outside, I'm going for the comfort of tea.

While surfing around the internet this morning, looking for ideas for the ginger-honey crystals, I found this article at Salon.com by Francis Lam about spicy ginger ale that made me wish my hot tea was cold and fizzy. I stopped buying soda when the boys came along, but every once in awhile I crave the carbonation. For those occasions, I keep CO2 cartridges on hand. Thanks to the ginger-honey crystals and a soda siphon, I was able to enjoy an instant glass of sweet, spicy ginger ale without trudging through the snow.

All this tea and soda got me thinking about a hot carbonated tea. I tried putting hot ginger honey tea through a soda siphon, but the bubbles dissipated before I was halfway through the cup. Before giving up, I thought of asking the Twitterverse for help. Jeffrey Stoneberger (@Eatmecookme) came to the rescue— carbonate a cold drink, then heat in microwave. After doing it his way (which, he said, is how they do it at Husk Restaurant in Charleston), I sat down to my third ginger-honey beverage of the day. This one, though, was the most enjoyable of all, as it offered hot soothing comfort with the giddiness of carbonation. The only problem: do I call it carbonated tea or hot soda?