Homemade Ginger Ale Adds Fizz to Standby

If you’re still sipping ginger ale from a can, you must be sadly misinformed about the latest drink trend. The cool thing now is ginger ale from scratch, informs the New York Times, and bars and restaurants are catching on. Why put in the extra effort of steeping ginger with lemon and sugar, then adding seltzer? It’s more delicious, for one.

And the artisanal nature of a fresh drink appeals to natural-food enthusiasts. “Nothing’s more local than things being made from scratch,” points out a National Restaurant Association spokeswoman. Some substitute honey for sugar, and others have secret additions to the mix, but for any recipe the key is the spicy, fresh zing of the ginger itself. (More ginger stories.)