All Things Ginger Beer By: Evan McGinnis
I found this Maine Root Ginger Beer at Cost Plus World Market for around $7 a six pack. It has a great kick to it and pairs well with vodka or rum to get your blood flowing. Maine Root Ginger Beer is definitely one of my top favorite ginger beers to drink alone or in a cocktail.
Rating: 5/5
Found this great ginger syrup at Bed Bath and Beyond in their world market section a few weeks ago. This is great used as a sweetener to any cocktail with a nice kick of ginger.
Ginger beer can be mixed with many things to create some very tasty cocktails. The problem I’ve noticed though is that bars don’t really carry ginger beer and they just make the typical cocktails that you can find at any bar, which is terribly boring. There are a few places in San Diego that I know of that are doing great things in the mixology dept and I hope it catches on [listed after the photo].
The Dark & Stormy is another favorite of mine. Typically made with dark rum, lime juice and ginger beer I’ve ventured on to add a few other ingredients [recipe after the photo].
Dark & Stormy
4oz Dark Rum
1/2 Squeezed lime
4-5 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
1 dash of Organic Vanilla Extract
1 small dab of Agave Nectar
Ginger Beer [Cock & Bull or Fever Tree. The spicier the better!]
Add to your copper mug the lime juice, bitters, vanilla, and agave nectar and then fill with ice. Then add two ounces of dark rum and top off with ginger beer of your choice. Garnish with lime wheel, stir gently and enjoy.
San Diego bars/restaurants with great mixology
Starlite
URBN
Craft & Commerce
Prohibition
El Dorado
Noble Experiment
Do you need to clean your copper mugs? It’s very simple and even if you’re unable to remove all of the tarnish it’s not going to kill you [that I know of.] There are a few options for cleaning your copper mugs at home with items that you most likely already have laying around such as ketchup, vinegar and salt. I used some white vinegar, sea salt and a paper towel to rub the mug down and remove almost all of the tarnish. To get to the harder to reach areas, or if your mugs have small dents then you can just use a toothbrush.
Reed’s Ginger Brew also makes Ginger Ice Cream! http://www.reedsinc.com/ice-cream/
I stumbled upon a new shop, or would it be shoppe since the place is called Rosie Lee’s British Foods. Rosie only had a few bottles of Belvoir Organic Ginger Beer left, so I bought two and really splurged on these because they were $5 a pop! It’s just a small 8oz. bottle, but it has a lot of kick, and it being organic is always nice. After I purchased the two I noticed there was a different brand of ginger beer in her case, but will have to go back to get that one.
Belvoir Organic Ginger Beer
Price: $4.99
Rating: 5/5
Ginger Beer & Ginger Ale. The difference? Ginger ale is not as strong in the ginger area and is typically more carbonated and not usually used for making mixed drinks. However, this Blenheim Ginger Ale has quite the kick. I purchased this at Grant’s Marketplace in South Park, San Diego. Grant’s also carries other ginger beers and ale’s and has a wide selection of root beer.
This Blenheim has quite the kick for being just a ginger ale.
Blenheim Ginger Ale with Smirnoff Vodka Mule Mug and shaker.
Rating: 5/5
Ok, so I’ve been asked many times, “where can I get copper mugs like yours?”. The first one I found was while thrift shopping. It was slightly beat up, but I cleaned it up and the beating it took added some character. The rest I’ve found on Etsy, but be warned, they can go for $10-$20 depending on how old they are and what’s stamped on them.
Stoney Ginger Beer is a ginger beer found in South Africa and is made and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. A friend of mine who is from SA found this at a market in San Diego that carried items from SA.
Stoney Ginger Beer from South Africa
I always look at what the ingredients are for the ginger beers that I try. This is one of the few that I’ve tried that contains HFCS. It almost tasted like a ginger coke.
Rating: 2/5
