Fresh Ingredients

Fresh Ginger

Fresh ginger is the raw root of the ginger plant, used in drinks for a bright, clean heat that comes from a compound called gingerol. It goes in as thin slices shaken or muddled, as pressed juice or simmered into a syrup, and each gives a different strength. Dried, ground or candied ginger tastes different, so a recipe that asks for fresh needs fresh: our Penicillin shakes two or three slices with Scotch, honey and lemon.

Quick Facts

ABV0%

Legal categoryFood

OriginSoutheast Asia (historically)

Flavour Strengthmedium bold

Our keeping timeWhole root: two to three weeks refrigerated. Cut or grated: two to three days refrigerated.

Storage

Whole and unpeeled in the fridge, loosely wrapped. Our rule once cut: wrap the cut face and use within two or three days. For longer keeping, freeze the whole root and grate it from frozen.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Fresh Ginger

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

GingerSpicy heatWarmingFresh

Tasting Notes

Bright, pungent ginger heat with warming spice and fresh citrus-like undertones. Heat lingers without bitterness when used correctly.

Gingerol gives the raw root its heat

Fresh ginger's bite comes from gingerol, which works on the tongue's heat receptors at a small fraction of chilli's pungency. Treat the root and the chemistry moves: drying turns some gingerol into shogaols, hotter and drier, which is what ground ginger tastes of; cooking turns some into zingerone, milder and sweeter-smelling. Candied ginger has been through both. None of them is fresh ginger in another form.

Slices, juice and syrup give three strengths

Slices are the controllable route: a known number, shaken or muddled, then strained out. Pressed juice is the strongest and the least forgiving. Simmered into honey ginger syrup, the heat is gentler and arrives with sugar, so the rest of the drink has to make room.

Fresh ginger by route into a drink

Thin slices

How it goes in: Shaken or muddled, then strained
Heat: Bright, set by the number of slices
Sugar added: None
Keeps: Cut root two or three days, refrigerated

Pressed juice

How it goes in: A few millilitres, by taste
Heat: Fiercest
Sugar added: None
Keeps: Make it the same day

Honey ginger syrup

How it goes in: 15 to 25ml in place of honey syrup
Heat: Gentle and steady
Sugar added: Honey, 2:1
Keeps: One week, refrigerated

Route	How it goes in	Heat	Sugar added	Keeps
Thin slices	Shaken or muddled, then strained	Bright, set by the number of slices	None	Cut root two or three days, refrigerated
Pressed juice	A few millilitres, by taste	Fiercest	None	Make it the same day
Honey ginger syrup	15 to 25ml in place of honey syrup	Gentle and steady	Honey, 2:1	One week, refrigerated

Two of our recipes shake or muddle it

The Penicillin shakes two or three thin slices with blended Scotch, 2:1 honey syrup and lemon for 10 to 12 seconds, then double strains them out; the ginger keeps the honey from making the drink soft. The IBA Tiki muddles one thin slice in the shaker before the rums and juices go in, for warmth under the pineapple.

A firm root keeps for weeks

Buy it firm, heavy and smooth-skinned, and keep it whole and unpeeled in the fridge, where it lasts two or three weeks. A cut root keeps two or three days with the face wrapped. For a root that will mostly be grated, freeze it whole; it grates finely from frozen, though it no longer slices well.

Using it

Using Fresh Ginger

Usage

Our recipes slice it: two or three coin-thin pieces shaken hard in the Penicillin, and one thin slice muddled first in the IBA Tiki. Slice it just before the drink. Pressed juice is far stronger and needs a much smaller measure.

Pro Tip

If a ginger drink tastes hot but not of ginger, the root is old. Cut fresh ginger should smell sharp and citrusy; buy a new piece rather than adding more slices of a tired one.

Top Tips

Choose a firm root with tight, shiny skin. A soft, wrinkled root has dried out and lost its bite.
Peel with the edge of a teaspoon, or not at all on a young root: a scrub is enough.
Slice thinly across the fibres so the shaker or muddler breaks the slices and frees the juice.
Double strain any shaken drink with ginger in it; fibres in the glass are unpleasant.

Possible Substitutions

Honey Ginger Syrup: heat with honey: cut the drink's other syrup to match
Ginger Beer: long drinks only: diluted, sweet and carbonated

Production Method

The rhizome of the ginger plant, Zingiber officinale, lifted, washed and sold whole. For drinks it is sliced, muddled, grated and squeezed for juice, or simmered in water as the base of a syrup.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What does fresh ginger do in a cocktail?

It adds a bright, clean heat. That lift stops sweet ingredients such as honey turning a drink soft, which is its job in our Penicillin. The heat comes from gingerol, which the raw root carries and drying or cooking changes.

Can I use ground ginger instead of fresh ginger?

Not where a recipe asks for fresh. Dried, powdered ginger has a hotter, dustier, gingerbread character, because drying changes its pungent compounds, and in a shaker it leaves a fine grit behind. Use fresh when the recipe says fresh.

Do you need to peel ginger for a cocktail?

Not a young root with thin, smooth skin: scrub it and slice. Older ginger with papery skin is easiest to peel with the edge of a teaspoon, which follows the knobbles and takes off less than a knife. Either way the drink is strained, so a little skin does no harm.

How do you make ginger juice?

Grate peeled root finely and squeeze the pulp through muslin or a fine sieve, or blend it with a splash of water and strain. Juice is much fiercer than slices, so start with a few millilitres and taste. Make it on the day: like any fresh juice it does not keep.

How do you store fresh ginger?

Whole and unpeeled in the fridge, where a firm root lasts two or three weeks. Our rule once cut: wrap the cut face and use it within two or three days. For longer, freeze the whole root and grate it straight from frozen; frozen root grates finely but no longer slices cleanly for a shaker.

How much fresh ginger goes in a drink?

For a shaken drink, two or three coin-thin pieces, as in our Penicillin; for a muddled one, a single thin slice pressed first, as in our IBA Tiki. Roots vary in heat, so taste a sliver first and add a slice rather than doubling the dose.

Is candied ginger the same as fresh ginger?

No. Candied ginger has been simmered in syrup and dried, which softens its heat and loads it with sugar. It works as a garnish to eat, as the Penicillin uses it, but it will not give a drink the clean, bright burn that fresh slices shaken in do.

Make something

Made with Fresh Ginger

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Penicillin IBA Tiki

Often Used With

Updated 18 October 2026

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