Ginger Beer Buzz – Gingervitis is even spreading to drinks!

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Hello dear readers! Today we will be delving into the fascinating world of ginger beer. Ginger beer is a fizzy drink flavoured with ginger and sweetened with sugar. Alcoholic ginger beer was first made in England in the mid-18th century but has come to be associated with Jamaica because it was brought there by British soldiers. These days non-alcoholic ginger beer has now taken over, gaining immense popularity in late November 2005 after a South Park cartoon popularized the term ginger.

Modern ginger beer is very similar to ginger ale. The main difference between ginger ale and ginger beer is the strength of the ginger taste. In ginger beer, the ginger taste is pronounced and it may have a cloudy appearance. Ginger ale is clear with a softer ginger taste, and is usually used as a mixer in cocktails. Some ginger beers even have chucks of ginger (ginger the spice, not human ginger) floating in them to give them a more pronounced flavour. One final difference between ginger beer and ginger ale is that ginger beer has less fizz than ginger ale.

Unfortunately we could not find any ginger beer in time to do a tasting, but Stewart’s makes a Jamaican style ginger beer that has an extremely spicy flavour according to some reviews we read on the Internet. Most people have difficulty finishing the whole bottle, and suggest that it is a ginger beer best used as a mixer with alcohol. As much as Rebecca likes gingers, this is one she never wants to meet.