palm wine

Hello readers and hello 2015!

I’ve been on holiday in warm, sunny Ghana hence the break in blog posts. It’s only befitting that my first post of the year is a celebratory cocktail inspired by Ghana, so here goes!

“Akurase Champagne” literally means ‘village champagne’ and I like to think of palm wine as just that! It’s a drink that doesn’t get half the recognition it deserves.

The main ingredient in this drink is palm wine, a sweet and crisp liquid tapped from palm trees. Depending on how long you let it ferment the alcohol percentage can be changed – and the taste along with it. I buy mine straight from a “tapper” in my village and put it on ice immediately to avoid fermentation (thank you, science background).

Things you need:

1 tsp fresh ginger; ground

1 lemon

1 bottle palm wine

Put tsp fresh ginger into a glass and add ice. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the glass and stir everything together thoroughly. Top with palm wine and add lemon slices.

It’s pretty easy and the tastiest tropical drink ever! Mine had minimal to zero alcoholic content, but you can let the palm wine stand for a while (no ice/cold) before adding to increase the alcohol content.

Wishing everyone an amazing start to 2015!