'African Heat' Spicy Lemonade

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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 anti-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!

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Other African Cuisine-Inspired Recipes

For other African-inspired recipes, have a look at our:

• Nigerian Jollof Rice with Fish
• West African Peanut Stew
• Melktert - The South African Custard Tart

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