homemade ginger ale

Summer is approaching and one goal I have this year is to make and create new drinks for lounging in the garden with friends. I love fresh ingredients, but, I must admit we don't use them nearly enough as we should. So, I figured drinks were the best place to start. My mom's favourite drink is Canada Dry Ginger Ale so naturally, it's the first recipe I looked up. There are many out there and they're all different. I wasn't feeling too adventurous so I skipped out on making real ginger ale by fermenting with yeast. Making a syrup to add to sparkling water seemed much more efficient.    I made this in quite a hurry so ours turned out to be more of a Fresca taste than a ginger ale taste but I know exactly why it happened and I will assure you that less is more with citrus. I boiled the citrus rinds with the ginger as well as adding their juices and it really took away from the ginger taste. It's still really delicious but not exactly the drink I was looking for. This recipe is kind of a "free" recipe, the measurements aren't set in stone so feel free to change it up a bit to suit your tastes. And I'll let you know what I did, and what I think you can do to make it better. Trial and error, right? Yes, I realize I photographed the french side of the can but hey, I'm Canadian so it didn't phase me at the time. Oops!
Homemade Ginger Ale  ♥ 2 cups of fresh ginger, chopped
♥ 2 limes
♥ 2 lemons
♥ 1 1/2 cups of sugar
♥ 2 cups water
♥ Sparkling water such as Club Soda or Pellegrino
♥ Fresh mint leaves (Optional)

♥ Peel and chop your ginger into coins or cube them, whatever is easiest for you. Add it to a medium pot with the sugar and water. This is where I added the juice and rinds of one lime and one lemon, but like I said it made it really citrusy, so you may choose to just use the juice and whether or not you'd like to use a whole lemon and lime or just half of each. Cook on medium heat until it starts to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Let sit for an hour to cool.

♥ Transfer syrup into a container with a fine mesh strainer. Discard pieces of ginger. Keep refrigerated.

♥ To make the ginger ale, start with 1 tbsp ginger syrup to 1 cup sparkling water over ice and then keep adding syrup to taste. I find less is more but it's really up to your taste buds! You can also add more lime juice to taste. And hey, if you like Fresca, by all means, add all the citrus! Garnish with lemon and lime slices and fresh mint leaves. I like to bruise the mint to release more flavour. It really adds to the freshness of the drink.

Enjoy!