If you enjoy lemon and ginger tea during the cold winter months, we have a cold and refreshing summer drink option for you. Our Spicy Lemonade may be cold in terms of temperature, but it certainly makes up for the heat that ginger and cayenne pepper leave dancing on your tongue. Sweetened with honey, this is a refined sugar-free drink that can be made with still or sparkling water.
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Benefits Of Spicy Lemonade
The benefits of consuming ginger and lemon are widely known. Most of us have heard of the copious amounts of Vitamin C and antioxidants that they contain. We love the combination of lemon, ginger and honey and had a warming infusion for years every time we feel a bit run down or starting to have that winter cold.
We decided to enhance the well-known combination by adding some cayenne and turmeric and make it into a cold drink. Whilst turmeric has long been described as a ‘superfood’ that acts as an inflammatory, we added it for the warm and earthy flavour and lovely bright colour that it brings to the drink.
Cayenne pepper, on the other hand, is all about the heat. Whilst it is widely claimed to help with weight loss and act as a tonic for various diseases, I simply love the kick it adds to our lemonade!
Ingredients and Substitutes
- honey: use runny honey for easier mixing. You can also substitute the honey with maple syrup, sugar syrup or agave nectar for vegan lemonade.
- lemon: a lemonade can never be made without them, right? Choose large juicy lemons, but if you have some limes to use, they will work here too!
- ginger: make sure to peel the ginger before grating it, as the skin will make the lemonade bitter.
- ground turmeric: adds a lovely bright yellow colour to the lemonade, but you can skip it if you don’t have any at home.
- cayenne pepper: can be substituted with chilli powder.
- sparkling water: or cold still water if you don’t want the fizz!
Simple Steps to Make Spicy Ginger Lemonade
Prepare all your ingredients. Peel and grate your ginger. I find a ginger/garlic grater extremely useful. Here’s a link to the one we use. Then squeeze two large lemons.
Add the lemon juice, runny honey, grated ginger, turmeric and cayenne pepper and mix well. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Then top with fridge-cold sparkling water (or still if you prefer) and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! It works just as well. However, since limes are smaller than lemons, I would recommend using 3 limes instead of 2 lemons.
Yes! We tried making it with agave syrup and a simple sugar syrup instead of honey, and it was just as delicious!
Other African Cuisine-Inspired Recipes
For other African-inspired recipes, have a look at our:
Recipe Card
‘African Heat’ Spicy Lemonade
Equipment
- A fine sieve
Ingredients
- 60 g runny honey
- 2 lemons juice only
- 10 g root ginger grated/ minced
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 500 ml sparkling water
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients, except for sparkling water well in a bowl or a jar. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a jug.
- Top with 500-600 ml of cold sparkling water (or still) and enjoy!
Nutrition
Vidya Narayan
The drink sounds and looks absolutely refreshing! Perfect for me as I love the combination of ginger, lemon and honey.
Ieva
It’s a great drink for a hot summer’s day! 🙂
Katherine
Oh wow – a tasty tonic-like lemonade. Incredible!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
This looks very different but lemon and ginger is so so soothing and tasty. Great combination of flavours.
Ieva
Lemon and ginger is perfect any time of year, but absolutely love adding turmeric and a bit of chilli heat to the mix too! 🙂
Tayler
I made this spicy lemonade over the weekend and it was amazing! Perfectly refreshing!
Ieva
💗 Thanks!
Toni
This is now my favorite drink!! Easy to make, healthy and most of all, delicious!!
Ieva
Toni, thanks for such lovely feedback 🙂
Casey
What a treat! I am obsessed with ginger but have never had it in lemonade! Super delish and refreshing!
Ieva
Same, we are obsessed with ginger! So glad you found a new way to incorporate ginger 🙂