A caffeine free morning coffee alternative

Raw Ginger Lemon Tonic isn't a tea but it is delicious, healthy, and easy to make. Instead of drinking coffee in the mornings I either make Raw Ginger Lemon Tonic water or a nutrient dense, blueberry laden, fruit smoothie.

You'll find the tonic recipe on the Healthy Blender Recipes website

Recently my mom told me about a pin on Pinterest for Raw Ginger Lemon Tonic so I added it to one of my boards. To fend off any random colds and just because I've always heard lemon, ginger, and honey are good for you, I thought I'd give it a try.

The ingredients are simple: Water, freshly squeezed lemon juice, raw honey, and freshly grated ginger.

The original recipe on the Healthy Blender Recipes website suggests running all of the ingredients through your blender. I tried and that was the exact moment I discovered the rubber lid no longer formed a seal to the glass pitcher as the liquid exploded out of every side of the blender. LOL. Since then I've found that simply stirring the ingredients together with a spoon results in a tasty beverage.

A key consideration is how hot should your water be? If you're going to use very hot water you can use raw or pasteurized honey. If you want all of the nutritional benefits honey has to offer use raw honey and don't heat it over 95º F.

One of the benefits of using raw honey is that it has living enzymes and vitamins that are beneficial from a health standpoint. If you use boiling hot water you will kill the enzymes and damage or destroy the vitamins. To keep the enzymes alive I've read that you shouldn't heat the water above 95º F. During the cold winter months I have to say the drink is tastier and cozier as a hot drink (over 120º F) but I think during the summer it would be refreshing as a slightly warm or cool drink.

Also, if you use a grater like mine you'll find the ginger packs itself around the metal edges of the grater. The easiest was to dislodge it is to tip the grater on its side then pour your hot water over the ginger into the bowl beneath it then pour the contents of the bowl into your cup with the honey and the lemon juice. That's how I make it.

I keep my fresh ginger frozen in a tupperware in the freezer. It preserves it and makes it easy to grate.

You will see bits of ginger skin floating to the top of the tonic water. I drink them too.

The recipes I've been saving on Twitter have been accumulating. I'll have to keep trying new ones on a regular basis.