"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...
> Is there ginger in gingerale? Was there ever?
>
>
> I'm not sure where this tradition got started, but in my family we've
> always given gingerale to people with respiratory ailments, had it on hand
> as a cocktail mixer, but drank it at no other time. I understand that
> fresh or dried ginger is supposed to have some good effect for helping
> people with a little asthma or a bad cold breathe better.

> So here it is 35 years later, and I'm buying gingerale for Jim's cough,
> and I'm looking at the ingredients of the different brands: Schweppes,
> Canada Dry and Polar. I can't see that any of them have ginger in them. I
> taste the Canada Dry when I get home.

Most soda today has "flavorings" rather than the real ingredient in raw
form. It happens to be one of my favorite sodas, but I don't care for
ginger as a spice in cooking all that much.


> Now for the harder question. What if I wanted to make a ginger flavored
> soft drink at home? Has anyone tried this? Squeeze ginger into a seltzer
> or something?

Give it a try. Sure won't harm anything.