Ginger drinks and Wonder Woman

gingerella-with-bottle I find myself almost exclusively drinking ginger drinks lately and wondering if I’m taking ginger pride a step too far. More than just the taste, I’ve been charmed by all the marketing, clever slogans and general celebration of ginger culture. I feel it is my moral duty to drink this stuff since they are brandishing a flag in the ginger corner and I vote solidarity.

Firstly there’s my favourite drink Gingerella. Although it’s just a yummy gingery non-alcoholic drink, I am completely captured by the identification of her as a brand. Gingerella epitomises everything that’s cool or should be cool about being a redhead. Okay, so cool doesn’t always correlate to a person who can’t be in the sun without freckles appearing as fast as bed bug bites in Raglan hostel. Gingerella however, has it all. She’s sexy, she’s fierce and she’s undeniably going to kick your arse if you dare to make one of those lame jibes about redheads having bad tempers – and she’ll do it without losing hers. No one’s ever going to undermine a ginger in her presence. She is our avenger of cool.

The company Karma Cola who created Gingerella, actually see her as an avenger of fairtrade, fighting for the plight of impoverished farmers in developing countries. They are an amazing ethically founded company. Their website introduces Gingerella – “What happens when you give mother nature’s magical healer a makeover? Meet our Firecracker who fights for justice, Gingerella.”

I however, see her as a champion of gingers fighting the good fight to stop people discriminating against us. She’s the ginger version of Wonder Woman ready to take on our cause.

So, of course it makes me want to drink Gingerella, hell, it makes me want to be her.

Following on from Gingerella, I discovered a whole new range of beverages with an amazing combo of ginger AND alcohol and this is where it all went pear shaped. I turned into a drunk ginger in a Wonder Woman costume, slurring about how we are NEVER going to be extinct, WE are going to take over the world.

There are a number of breweries marketing newly popular gingerbeers – Mac’s Gingerbrew, Speights Gingerbeer and Crabbies Gingerbeer are all terrific versions of an old fashioned drink that we all loved in our childhood. Many people will remember that cloudy fermented drink bubbling away in the back of the garage with the occasional explosion from the pressure of over carbonation. Forget the gingerbeers of the past – murky with living cultures floating in the bottle, getting stuck in your teeth, these are all fresh, zesty and perfect drinks for Summer.

Ranga Gingerbeer even promotes itself as “the refreshing drink of Summer” and I like how they poke mild fun at being ginger –acceptable apparently because one of their directors is a red head, describing us as no longer having to “hide in the shade, swimming in sunblock and wishing fanta pants were an urban myth”.

I’m picturing an advertising campaign for their Summer. We’re all crammed under a giant SPF umbrella with long sleeve shirts and zinc covered noses while drinking our refreshing gingerbeer. Not quite the same appeal as bronze skinned, bikini clad, beach goddesses slugging back Coke on the back of a jet ski in the blazing sunshine.

For years Stokes Ginger Beer was only available on tap at their Nelson brewery but the popularity of it made them decide to bottle it and provide it to the Nation. Gingers are all over the country after all. “Stoke Ginger Beer epotimises what it means to be a redhead. Like Vincent Van Gogh it’s unique and creative, and like Molly Ringwald it evokes classic memories from years gone by; like Geri Halliwell there’s a touch of spice, and like Prince Harry it’s classy, with just a hint of mischief!”

I’m hoping that the popularity of ginger drinks remains. It seems to be having a resurgence, its day in the sun (pun intended), just like Chardonnay, Rose and Tequila Sunrises had theirs. If this moment doesn’t last, I’ll be forced into making some of that old fashioned gingerbeer myself. I’m a champion of the cause and it starts with what I choose to drink and I choose ginger!

Just in case though, here’s the recipe – Gingerbeer

Tags: Ginger, Gingerbeer, Gingerella, red hair, redhead