How to Make Homemade Ginger Ale (No Sugar Recipe With Honey)

Did you know that the very first original sodas were carbonated herbal drinks? The original ginger ale was blended to help people with indigestion and stomach upset. Find out how to make a healthy homemade ginger ale recipe with honey! Unlike the junky stuff you find in stores, my herbal soda recipes are free of refined sugar and artificial sweeteners.

The Medicinal History of Herbal Sodas

Did you know that healthy herbal sodas were an American tradition? Well, not all of them were healthy, but many of them were!

In the late 1800s and early 1900s in the United States, drugstores and soda fountains were located in the same building. The soda fountain counter was a common meeting place in American towns and cities.

Pharmacists mixed carbonated water and sugar into medicines to make the medicinal treatment more palatable. They concocted custom sodas depending on what ailment the customer was complaining of.

The original Coca-Cola recipe was a mixture of cocaine and caffeine mixed with soda water and sugar as a treatment for headaches.

The original root beer had sassafras and sarsaparilla, herbal medicines known to help with many ailments including indigestion, arthritis and acne.

Soda has definitely changed. The root beer of 1920 is very different from the root beer today. Now we don’t deal with cocaine and known drugs in our sodas, but the medicinal ingredients are long gone, replaced by sugar and colorants.

In fact, Harvard School of Public Health says excess soda consumption is playing a big role in the obesity epidemic. Their research shows that people who consume sugary drinks regularly, 1 to 2 cans a day or more, have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. You can read about it here.

A good refreshing bubbly drink is so satisfying. Let’s ditch the junky sodas and make our own homemade ginger ale!

Healthy Homemade Ginger Ale Recipe

What do you say we make some healthy herbal soda? It isn’t that hard!

We are going to make some REAL homemade ginger ale recipe with honey. Not the relic of what you find in the store that’s just mostly sugar.

The original ginger ale was blended to help people with indigestion and stomach upset. You could go to the soda fountain and say, “Hey, I’ve got a stomachache.” The pharmacist would say, “Okay, I’ll make you up a ginger ale to help you with that!”

Just look at the whiteboard in this video! All the things that ginger helps with! Ginger is anti-inflammatory, stimulates circulation, helps with digestion, and more.

Okay, so let’s resurrect our ginger ale. In this video, I demonstrate two different ways of making homemade ginger ale recipes with honey and stevia.

Serve it at the next dinner party or just the next dinner you have with somebody. They’re going to be like, “Wow! That’s the best drink I’ve had all year long!” I’m telling you, people love this!

Save money and save your health. You are what you drink! Making delicious healthy drinks at home is the antidote to all the junky drinks out there.

Enjoy your homemade ginger ale! And if you’re looking for more ginger drink recipes, also check out this Basil Ginger Limeade.

Print Recipe

Homemade Ginger Ale #1

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

• Fist-size piece of fresh ginger juiced into 1 cup fresh ginger juice
• 1 cup honey
• 4 drops liquid stevia
• Carbonated water to taste
• Lemon, lime or peppermint for garnish

Instructions

• Put fresh ginger juice, honey and stevia into jar and shake until mixed together well.
• Pour a glass of carbonated water and begin by adding a healthy splash of the ginger honey mixture. Then continue to add more to taste. Fresh ginger juice is strong and a little goes a long way!
• This mixture of fresh ginger juice and honey is good for 5 to 7 days stored in the fridge.

Print Recipe

Homemade Ginger Ale #2

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp fresh, grated ginger
• 4 cups water
• ½ cup honey
• Carbonated water to taste

Instructions

• First, make a ginger infusion. Place the ginger and water into a pot with a lid on it. I use stainless steel Revere pots; glass and enamel pots also work well.
• Bring the water and herbs just barely to a boil and then immediately turn off the fire.
• Let the ginger steep for 1-2 hours.
• Using a metal strainer, remove the herbs from the ginger infusion.
• Add honey to the ginger infusion.
• Add carbonated water to preference.
• The shelf life of this ginger-honey mixture is 3 days kept in the fridge.