M. Biada?s Lemon Ginger Wonder Drink

I was fortunate enough to go to Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. I spent four years in one of the prettiest towns in the lower-48, and met some of the best people there. One of my friends, Mark, would make this drink often using his french press. I’m not even sure I’d seen a french press before then. I was a 19-year old Alaskan, still learning a lot about the world. Mark would carefully make this drink, pouring it into a water bottle before we’d go sit and watch the afternoon light move across the mountains out on the porch at Evo’s Café. Mark’s ritual and recipe for preparing this drink for himself and loved ones has stayed fresh in my memory.

Ten years later I still remember how to make Mark’s wonder drink. We’re 12 days away from the first day of spring! It might take awhile longer for the flowers to climb out of the ground in Alaska, but it feels like time to start cleansing our bodies and homes. If you live in Southern Oregon, or are just interested in Mark T. Biada’s amazing fashion design, you can see his work here.

This drink is a great way to get the blood flowing, move a cold out of your head and lungs, and purify the blood. This article from the Mayo Clinic suggests that garlic may reduce your cholesterol. Honey is proven to reduce cough symptoms among other things. Here’s an article from the University of Maryland about how great ginger is. I don’t want to leave the trusty cayenne pepper out of the mix, here’s an article about how it can be good for cluster headaches. Lemon is chock full of Vitamin C and can help you quickly cure the common cold. Basically all of the ingredients in this wonder drink are good for you and combined they’re a cup of rad for your body.

A good visual guide to the amount of individual ingredients. The bottom of my knife has a clove of garlic, the top has my chopped ginger. Far right, dash of cayenne sprinkled onto ingredients in the french press.

Ingredients:

- Tea kettle full of almost boiling water

- 1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces

- 1 clove of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

- 1 tablespoon of honey

- 1 lemon, peel chopped off if not organic, or if organic, washed and cut into wedges that can be squeezed easily.

- 1 pinch of powdered cayenne pepper

Instructions:

- Heat water in tea kettle until almost boiling on the stove

- Cut garlic, ginger, and lemon

- Add garlic, ginger, and lemon to your french press

- If you’re using a lemon that’s not organic, peel the lemon before cutting into a dice, squeeze diced lemons into french press, releasing some of the juice before putting diced lemon in press.

- Add tablespoon of honey and pinch of powdered cayenne pepper

- Add almost boiling water from tea kettle, stirring ingredients in french press with a wooden spoon

- Using the french press, plunge down onto ingredients 3 – 4 times, applying pressure to release flavor.

- Pull press half-way up and let steep for up 3-5 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve in a coffee mug or tea cup – add Irish whiskey to make a delicious toddy, it’s hard on the body but good for the soul.

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